What a Prince
by viperdarkness
Summary: When Prince Kyoya flat out refuses to marry, a chain of events unfold and Hibari learns some secrets he has not been told about his kingdom and faces the consequences that are involved. Pairings: D1869 and TsunaxKyoko, warnings are inside, AU
1. Prologue

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic, out of the many first fanfics that I've been trying to write, that I'll actually let people read!!! Yayness! So, please enjoy and read the warnings, thank you.

**Warnings**: later on there will be some language, sexual content, violence, angst, shounen-ai, etc. etc. but for now, it will be safe, a little humorous (I'm not that great at comedy as my sister told me *tears*) and happy… but Haru lovers may not enjoy what Hibari will call her (I apologize for that). This story is also not for anti-D1869 (DinoxHibarixMukuro) people, alternate universes, nor anti-triangle people. So, if you do not like either of the two, please do not read or flame for such reasons (though this pairing won't show up until either the second or third chapter). If not, then read on.

**Prologue**

To begin this fairytale with 'Once upon a time' would not befit said story. To begin with 'This tale is about a troubled king with an unusual family' defines and explains more of what the story is about and makes it a hell of a lot easier to write. And hence, this story shall commence.

This tale is about a troubled king with an unusual family. After marrying Princess Kyoko of the Sasagawa Family to the Sawada Family's Prince Tsunayoshi, the two families created a strong alliance to prevent a war against one another. Unlike most arranged engagements, both Tsuna and Kyoko loved each other and happily wedded. Taking the place of his father to become king, King Tsuna and Queen Kyoko had two children, Princess Chrome and Prince Kyoya. King Tsuna, of course, was a loving father, but he sensed a certain weird vibe among his two children. Yes, they both loved animals and fought with each other (though with forks, tridents, and tonfas) like ordinary siblings and children would do, but there was something very strange about them that Tsuna had a hard time figuring out. Later, he noted that the weird vibe centered more on his son than his daughter, whom the only strange thing he could find was that Chrome wore an eye patch on her right eye for no reason.

Pondering in his bed late at night, Tsuna listed the strangities (he just made up that word) of his son, Kyoya Sawada.

Now, King Tsuna began in his thoughts, it was strange how when his son spoke his first words, they were: "I'll bite you to death." Tsuna believed it was the family listening to all those foul languages the knights spoke from time to time and expected Kyoya to forget it in a couple of days. Years later, Tsuna would see that this would become his son's favorite catch phrase.

Tsuna found it strange when Kyoya told Tsuna to not call him Kyoya, but to call him Hibari… with a –san at the end! Even Chrome joined in, asking to be called Dokuro-san (but more jokingly). At least Kyoya still called him Father.

It was also strange how Ky... Hibari-san liked the company of Advisor Reborn above others. Hibari did hang out with knights a lot as well, but Reborn was a higher level of weirdness. How this was strange, nobody in the castle really knew, but Tsuna believed that anybody who enjoyed hanging out with Reborn was very strange. He soon received a bullet to the head when Reborn got word of this (which, to the happiness of his wife, were only Sorry Bullets, making him miserable for the rest of the day).

Another strange thing that Tsuna noticed was the day he heard his daughter, Chrome, was being bullied in school. He panicked when the kids came home, and gawked at what he saw. Chrome had a bruise on her forehead and Hibari was covered in blood. When asked why, Hibari shrugged and said, "I bit the herbivores to death." The bullies went missing soon afterwards.

There was also dinner time, where Hibari sometimes brought a dead pig to the kitchen and made… what was that again? Oh right, hamburgers. Where Hibari came up with such an idea, King Tsuna had no clue, but his son would never eat the meals made by the chefs unless it was Japanese food.

It was very strange that one day Tsuna happened to open Kyoya's door and saw a poster of drawings with darts all around. Peering closer, he realized the drawings around the borders were his servants, knights, etc. and that the great big picture in the middle was Tsuna himself (his had the most darts). There was a sign above that read: List of Herbivores to Bite to Death. King Tsuna did not get the message his son was trying to tell him, and walked away in defeat.

All this weirdness that surrounded his son, Kyoya, or Hibari-san as he liked to be called now, and King Tsuna could not figure him out. The clues were swarming in his head, but he could not put the puzzle pieces into their right positions. His son was just a mystery to him. But in the end, Tsuna could not ask for a better family, no matter how confusing and small the relationship was.

And so, it was in the morning of May 5th that Tsuna's anxiety reached to a high point as he felt the imminent presence that would break the tiny bond he had with his son. He gulped nervously as he sat on his throne with his queen on the other to await the arrival of his son.

The heavy bolted doors opened, and Tsuna watched as Hibari, in his royal white and gold suit, walked along the fine, silky red carpet that led to the marble steps that the two thrones were on top of. Hibari stopped in front of the marble steps, and looked up at his father with onyx eyes. He was very unhappy, since earlier he was beating up some of the knights who dared to call him 'gal', and bore holes at his father's forehead with his stare.

"Father," asked Hibari, his voice hinting boredom and malice, "you called me?"

"Hibari-san, we have decided…" Tsuna paused to turn to his queen, who nodded for him to continue, "that because you have turned 16, you will be engaged to your longtime fiancé, Haru."

In the back of Hibari's mind, two cars collided together and made a nuclear explosion. Trying to keep his cool, he replied, "What?"

"You are going to marry Haru Miura," Tsuna said once more with much tension. He knew this was not going to end well.

It wasn't like Hibari had any ill-feelings towards Haru, it was just, living with her, Hibari didn't even want to imagine that. So, he played three plans of action to get away from this. One: marry Haru, then either shoot her or himself, which would both result with a miserable kingdom and the banishment of Hibari from the mentioned kingdom (though it made him curious on how they could banish him when he was dead). Two: refuse the proposal, say she's a bitch, and get banished from the kingdom. And three… well; he'd like to not think about that one, as the results will probably be worse than banishment. After much consideration, Hibari picked Plan Number Two as it seemed to be the only plan that his father would probably let slip by (not that he had a problem with being shunned, it's just that searching for a new home took time).

"I refuse," Hibari stated plainly. Tsuna sighed.

"And why is that?"

"She's a bitch," Hibari replied calmly, gladly following his plan smoothly and literally. Tsuna and Kyoko gaped.

"Kyoya," Kyoko said in a displeased tone.

"You cannot call a woman you're marrying a bitch," Tsuna exclaimed, "It's against the Code of Honor of a prince and exiles you from this kingdom!"

Long pause.

"Then why aren't you sending me away?" Hibari questioned with a raised brow.

"Because, I just made it up after you said that!"

Hibari smirked. He knew his father all too well. Satisfied in getting what he wanted, Hibari walked away triumphantly.

"Hibari-san, I was not done talking to you!"

Hibari blanched. Scratch what he had just said before; apparently he didn't know King Tsuna that well.

"Yes…_fa-a-ather_," Hibari muttered through gritted teeth. Tsuna flinched.

"Um, in a-about a da-week," Tsuna stuttered, "I would… liketohearyourreplyoncemoreontheproposaltoPrincessHaru."

Sadly for Hibari, he understood every word in that long sentence and glared at his father. The glare was so overwhelming, Tsuna heard his mind squeak, "Eek!"

"Of course I will… father." And with much contempt, Hibari stomped away defiantly.

Tsuna sighed and bowed his head in defeat. Kyoko frowned upon this and called for Advisor Reborn to come forth.

"You called, Your Majesty?" asked Reborn, jumping up onto Kyoko's lap.

"Reborn," Kyoko asked gently, "would you please see to Kyoya that he doesn't feel too upset about this situation? I need to tend to my husband right now."

"I'll see what I can do," Reborn answered, sliding off the skirt of Kyoko's dress. He turned towards Tsuna, who was in a world of reasons on why he was such a bad king. Taking out what seemed to be a jack-in-the-box, Reborn twirled the handle till a boxing glove popped out and punched Tsuna out of his trance.

"What did you do that for," Tsuna exclaimed, rubbing his now swollen cheek.

"Stupid Tsuna," said Reborn, "too naïve to see his son's problems."

Reborn walked away afterwards, leaving a terribly confused king and a caring queen caressing her stupefied husband. What an annoying family Reborn had to deal with. Mainly, what a useless king he had to work for.

Author's Note:

Oh boy this was a little too G-rated for my liking, XD, but oh well, the T rating will come soon… I hope (this author needs her angst). Anyways, I hope everybody enjoyed this and Tsuna being a clueless king, I've always wanted to write about that, haha. And we'll see what is up with Hibari *drools* in the next chappie.


	2. The Illusionist Returns

Author's Note:

Thank you all reviewers!!! I feel so refreshed reading them, and I tried to finish this chappie as fast as I could. I swear! So, please enjoy… and sorry, but there is no T yet *sobs*.

Cookies to:

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- you're welcome ^^, and I think Tsuna is probably the easiest for me to write without going too OOC, XD

Lady Serena Sparrow- thank you! I'm also a huge fan of 6918 *drools* but I can never find many doujinshis about it… and Dino and Mukuro will appear soon enough!... Just not in this chappie, sadly.

**Warnings:**

later on there will be some language, sexual content, violence, angst, shounen-ai, etc. etc.

Pairings: D1869, TsunaxKyoko, slight 8059

**Ch. 2 The Illusionist Returns**

"Oi, Hibari!" the heavy bolted doors opened and closed loudly as the fast pace of big, weighty feet and the sound of clanking armor came towards Hibari.

Walking along the Great Hallway, Hibari didn't bother to turn back as he said, "If you were wise, Yamamoto Takeshi, you would state my rank before you say my name."

Yamamoto, who finally caught up, grinned as he patted Hibari's head. "Ha, ha, that's not true Hibari, you're good friends with all the knights. There's no need for us to be formal."

(A fact that was neglected in the last chapter was that some of the knights were in the Throne Room.)

"Don't touch me or I'll bite you to death," Hibari warned, taking out his tonfas to aim at Yamamoto's chest. He wanted to cut the knight's throat, but because of his parents' short genes, this was the best he could do.

Holding up his arms jokingly, Yamamoto said, "Relax, I only came out here to ask what went wrong back there."

Hibari drew back his tonfas and swiftly walked away. "It's none of your business. An idiot like you wouldn't be able to keep a secret anyway."

"I'm good at keeping secrets," Yamamoto opposed, "See, my lips are sealed."

Yamamoto made a zip motion through his mouth to prove his statement. Hibari glared.

"I wouldn't trust you because," Hibari stated, "you can't even keep your relationship with that octopus headed herbivore a secret."

Yamamoto gaped. "You knew about it?! And you didn't tell?!"

"Everyone does," explained Hibari, "except for my stupid father. And what's the fun in telling when all I'll expect to see is an herbivore beating an idiot to death on top of being banished."

"So you do care." Yamamoto grinned.

"No," said Hibari, "I promised the herbivore not to tell my father if he promised not to tell my father my secret."

"How come you didn't tell me also?"

"Because _he _found out."

"Ah, lucky Gokudera!"

Hibari rolled his eyes and left once again. He paused in his steps.

"One more thing, Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Yes, Hibari?" Yamamoto gave a curiously confused expression.

"If you must say my name without Prince," said Hibari, "then add a –san to the end of my name as a replacement."

Yamamoto chuckled. "Okay, Hibari-san."

Though Hibari called him names and such, Yamamoto was probably one of the only few knights Hibari respected. It would have been a problem if he was not, for Yamamoto was also Hibari's bodyguard. A thought just struck Yamamoto.

"Wait, does the queen know about us?"

Hibari glared. "My mother isn't an idiot."

"Oh man."

As Hibari walked away into the shadows of the hallway, a quick thought approached Yamamoto's mind. _Where does he go to be alone?_

---

Reborn as a man, or baby, had experienced a better time before he became advisor of the Sawada Family. His adventures as an assassin brought him money, action, a double life, and sex (though how, I hope I don't find out). He threw it all away so he could retire and find a more peaceful job. Apparently, being King Tsuna's advisor did not fit the description. Tsuna: a coward, loser, barely passed with C's in school, and a wimp; Reborn had to work on these stressful flaws that a king should not have. But as Tsuna grew, Reborn saw that he was an able man and would not pick anyone else for his role. That opinion changed as well, though, when Kyoya was born. He saw the power, bravery, and intelligence of Kyoya, but also saw his flaws in violence and emotions. Reborn believed that once Kyoya took the throne, he would truly be happy playing his role as advisor. So, as he tapped a wall, he would provoke Kyoya into telling Tsuna his troubles, starting with the issue in the present. A square part of the wall moved to the side, revealing a dumbwaiter. Reborn got in it, holding the rope as he slowly let it go little by little, bringing him down.

Reaching his destination, Reborn looked around a huge dark room filled with many crates and boxes. He never saw the use of a basement when nobody ever used the stuff in it. Hibird flew up from the many crates and boxes to perch itself on Reborn's hand. Reborn gazed at a certain box.

"Ciaossu." Silence.

"Sawada Kyoya," said Reborn, "I know you are hiding here."

"…I wasn't hiding."

"Then why are you in your Comfort Box?"

Hibari, as Reborn had said, was scrunched up in a box, sitting with chin resting on knees, arms closed around shins. He ignored Reborn's question, believing that he, Hibari Kyoya, did not hide from any form and that this was not a 'Comfort' Box, but merely a place for him to rest in (even if the space was too small).

"If you are here to help, baby," stated Hibari, "then you can leave, or else you are just wasting yours and my time."

"I'm not allowed to," said Reborn, "without giving some advice."

Hibari murmured about biting Tsuna to death.

"When are you going to tell your father that you're gay?"

Hibari aimed his tonfas at Reborn's skull, but was stopped by the advisor's gun.

"You know," said Reborn, "more than about 85% of the time, people who react to the statement shows that the statement's true."

"You made up those numbers," Hibari growled.

"And you're avoiding the topic." Ducking another blow to the head, Reborn gazed at Hibari to see if he would oppose.

Hibari frowned. "How did you know?"

"I've known you since you were a baby, Kyoya," Reborn explained, "I've paid much closer attention to your characteristics."

"What's the use of that," Hibari contradicted.

"From what I see, if you learn from No Good Tsuna's faults, I believe you would have a higher potential than your father as king."

"Why should I learn from him, when he won't learn it himself?"

Reborn raised the gun to Hibari's forehead. "Then tell him."

"If you're going to shoot me with that, then you'll be the first person I bite to death."

"I won't," Reborn smiled, "these bullets are made specifically for your father."

"Good," was all Hibari could say.

Putting the gun down, Reborn went to the dumbwaiter. Going inside, he said, "This isn't the only thing you want to tell your father, but it's the one you could have told him right then and there. I know there is one you have been dealing with for a long time."

Pulling down the rope, Reborn added another comment. "At least you can keep a secret unlike those two."

Hibari smirked. "You heard that?"

"Yes, and I still remember how you found out and told me."

Hibari grimaced. "I rather not recall that memory."

---

"I'm a horrible father," Tsuna muttered miserably. Kyoko shook her head.

"You are not, Tsuna," she said, rubbing his spiked red hair, "You must prove to Kyoya that you are there for him."

"But," Tsuna contradicted, "what can I do when I don't even know my own son?!"

"Well, first," said Kyoko, "you have to find out what makes him happy or mad or…. I have an idea!!!"

The queen knocked down her king in her excitement. "Some motherly and womanly bonding might do the trick! I need Chrome to help me with this one. Chrome darling, where are you?"

And she exited the room in search of her daughter. Gokudera entered right after.

"For once," he grumbled, "I feel sorry for that guy."

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna exclaimed, "Please tell me you have good news!"

"Tenth," Gokudera cried joyously, and then showed his grumpiness once more, "your brother-in-law is here to see you."

"Yo Sawada!"

"Ryohei," said Tsuna, unhappy with the man he had to talk with right now (he didn't want a noisy guy like Ryohei to help him with his family problems), "what are you doing here?"

"I just came back from the League of Fighters," said Ryohei, "they fought me to the extreme!"

And it was there when Tsuna questioned Ryohei's 'to the extreme' sentiment. Tsuna's thoughts began to wander away as an 'if' factor came to mind. If Ryohei ever married, Tsuna imagined there would be a marriage and honeymoon to the extreme. Tsuna cringed at what the 'to the extreme' phrase might have meant in that situation. Thank goodness Ryohei was still single!

"I hope you were somewhere else instead of here because you cringed after I asked how Kyoko was… to the extreme!"

"Ah," Tsuna yelped, "of course I wasn't… I would never… I couldn't… I love my wife!"

"That's good to here, Sawada," Ryohei joked, "cause if you weren't I would have to take you down like a protective brother would do."

Tsuna flinched. Ryohei laughed.

"You are a funny man, Sawada, acting cowardly when you can take on a guy like me (_That's only with the Dying Will Bullets_, Tsuna thought nervously). And before I forget, I came here to tell you some news, both good and bad!"

"Can we start with the good news?" Tsuna had enough of negative issues.

"My good news," Ryohei proclaimed, "is that I want your son to join the League of Fighters!"

Again, Tsuna's imagination ran wild as he thought of what would happen if Hibari joined.

In Tsuna's world:

_In a boxing arena, both Hibari and Ryohei were wearing boxing shorts and gloves as they looked out to a crowd._

_"Let's fight!" shouted Ryohei enthusiastically._

_"Right Uncle," shouted Hibari with just the same amount of enthusiasm._

_"To the extreme," they both cried, each raising one arm out proudly. The crowd cheered._

"I refuse," Tsuna remarked instantly. He did not notice the irony in what he said.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want my son to join!"

Ryohei stayed silent. Judging from Ryohei's reaction, Tsuna knew he would not let this topic go away without a good excuse.

"And because it'll scare Kyoko," Tsuna added quickly.

"Ah…right," Ryohei murmured to himself, rubbing his chin, "Kyoko is already worried about me… To have her son join… adds more worry… to the _extreeeme_."

Tsuna sighed in relief at Ryohei's suddenly different outlook on his request. _That was close_, he thought.

"What was your bad news," Tsuna asked, hating the adjective _bad_ right now.

Ryohei paused before saying, "Rokudo Mukuro has returned to the Vongola Kingdom."

"Rokudo Mukuro," Tsuna shouted, leaning way over his throne. The knights turned towards their king in surprise.

"Mukuro the Illusionist," they whispered to each other.

"Why is he here?!" Tsuna panicked.

"Word is," Ryohei started, "that he's after a member of your family."

"What?! My family is not involved with that guy! Why would he be after them?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," said Ryohei, "Right now, we know that someone in this castle is working alongside with him."

"What?! My own people are against me?!" Tsuna began to mumble to himself. "This is bad… w-we need someone to guard them… no wait, we have that! But Mukuro can get rid of them with his illusions. This can't be happening! Not to my family!"

"Do not worry, Sawada," Ryohei yelled proudly, "I have the top assassin working with me!"

Tsuna ran from his throne to clamp Ryohei's mouth shut. "Not so loud!"

Letting go of Ryohei's mouth, Ryohei asked, "What is so wrong about hiring an assassin?"

"It's not that… I can't have my family know we are going to have an assassin live with us," Tsuna explained.

"But Re…" Ryohei began, but was yet again silenced by Tsuna's hand.

"They don't know about Reborn," Tsuna whispered.

"Why are we whispering," Ryohei questioned, "you're family's not here."

"Yeah, but they are," said Tsuna, pointing behind Ryohei.

They both glanced at the knights, who quickly began to talk amongst one another.

"I thought Mukuro was hanged."

"That's what they say, but they probably were all too scared to do that."

"They said he was hanged a couple of times already, they must be lying."

"Ha, I can beat that guy with one finger."

"Yeah, I'd love to see you do that, then run away to your mother."

"Gotcha," said Ryohei. Tsuna sighed.

"So, can you give me his name?"

"I can give you that," said Ryohei, "and his profile."

He passed a document to Tsuna. Tsuna eyed it. "Did you read it?"

"It was too long," Ryohei said sheepishly.

Tsuna really worried about both the man in front of him and the assassin that he was about to assign his family's lifeline to. Opening the document nervously, he gazed at the picture, and then looked at the caption that read: Dino Cavallone.

Nearby behind the bolted doors, Chrome was eavesdropping on the whole conversation. _I must warn Mukuro-sama_, she thought. About to leave, Chrome froze when she heard someone shouting her name.

"Chrome darling, there you are!" Kyoko ran towards her daughter as fast as she could with high heels, petticoat, and long skirt of a dress.

"Wait, mother," Chrome began, "I need to…"

But it was too late; Kyoko had grabbed Chrome's hand and dragged her upstairs. "We need to cheer up your brother! And I found a solution that would be a relief to us all!"

Author's Note:

Poor Tsuna, having to deal with a family crisis that he can't tell his family, poor Hibari the problem child and whatever his mother's going to do, poor Yamamoto and Gokudera for their relationship, poor Chrome for not being able to warn Mukuro… Oh well, at least Dino will finally make an appearance *cheers*.


	3. Top Assassin or Clumsy Fool?

**Author's Note:**

This chapter was a bit longer than I expected, so I had to cut off at the end… so sadly, you'll have to wait for Dino and Hibari's encounter T_T, and a little more longer for Mukuro to appear *cries*. And sorry if the characters seem a bit OOC in this chapter, I had a hard time with that, XD. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter anyways, XD

Thanks to:

thPeekaBoo- ha ha, I agree, Chrome needs protection. ^^

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- I'm one of the few rejoicing for Mukuro as well. And also, yes, Hibari and boxers equal sexiness to the extreme! *drools* Thanks for reviewing a second time!

Thekurot- Finally did! Yosh!

dimonyo-anghel- I'm still thinking about the threesome or triangle thing, so you'll have to wait on that, XD. And your questions I cannot answer or else it would spoil the plot…sorry -_-; And thanks for reviewing both chappies!

**Warnings**: there is bad language, crossdressing, and sexual jokes in this chappie, so watch out!

Disclaimer: I've been forgetting to put this, ha ha. I do not own Reborn, that belongs solely to Amano Akira. I also do not own the Namimori anthem, but I wish I owned Hibird T_T

**Ch. 3 The Top Assassin… Or the Dangerously Clumsy Guy?**

This was a relief? That was the first thing that Hibari thought of his situation. Standing on some kind of platform (it was hard to see from the puffiness of his garment) Hibari was allowing his mother to stitch a dress for his Auntie… who was it? Susana? Anna? Oh right, Hana, on _him_. The prince stared down at the golden brown vest that attached together with the many strings at the chest area. It overlapped the actual dress, which was a creamy custard color and had many ruffles at the ends of the dress and the cuffs of the arms.

"Mother," asked Hibari, "why am I doing this again?"

"Well," said Queen Kyoko, "your Auntie Hana needs a new dress for the upcoming ball after her new position as military general. Besides, it's fun to make dresses!"

Hibari cringed at his mother's excitement, and at the same time thought that the job suited his aunt.

"Why not use Chrome," he asked, motioning towards his sister, who was sitting silently, "she's a girl. If only she acted like one."

Chrome glared. Kyoko continued.

"As I've said before, since her new job, Hana's breasts have become very flat after her training and breastfeeding twins. I think it would be awkward for her to be wearing her old dresses that will probably show a little more than is necessary, or might pop out some things that shouldn't."

Hibari wanted to shoot himself of embarrassment for listening to this. He regretted leaving the basement.

"Mother," he pronounced, "I do not need to hear about that woman's breast problem!"

"Anyways," Kyoko went on, "your body's are about the same height and flat-chested. Though you really should eat more, Kyoya. You're almost as skinny as a stick!"

Hibari groaned inwardly. He then noticed a gaze on him that was irritating his back. The prince turned around to see Chrome glaring at him.

"What are you staring at," he asked, glaring as well.

Chrome was not angry at her brother; her anger was more leaning towards her guardian knights (knight_**s**_ after the bullying problem) Ken and Chikusa. She had signaled for help when Kyoko dragged the princess away from her mission, and the two just waved goodbye and said to enjoy. But in the present, Chrome needed to put her rage on someone else, and that someone else happened to unluckily be her brother, who had forced her into this position involuntarily. So she went on glaring at Hibari, ignoring his question.

The two continued their glaring contest until Hibird, on top of Hibari's head, began to sing:

_Midori tanabiku namimori no  
dainaku shounaku nami ga ii_

Chrome closed her ears. "I do not want to remember my middle school's anthem! Kokuyo High is a way better school!"

Hibari smiled mischievously. He whistled the tune while Hibird sang. Chrome glared at her brother more intently.

"Chrome darling," said Kyoko, "could you help me stitch this side up?"

"Yes mother."

Hibari whistled more loudly as Chrome neared to agitate her more. He was surprised when his thigh was suddenly pricked and cried, "Ouch!"

Chrome faked a gasp and covered her mouth. "Ah, I'm sorry little brother! My hand must have slipped. Did it hurt _that_ much?"

Hibari's eyebrow twitched.

"Of course it didn't," he tried to say with as much of a composed state as he could muster, "Just caught me by surprise."

"That's okay Chrome," said Kyoko, oblivious to the evil intent between the two, "just make sure not to prick your brother again."

"Yes mother," Chrome said in her sweet little voice. Hibari watched her closely. Chrome noticed, and smiled happily as she poked her brother once again. Hibari flinched. There was another prick right after, and it was the fourth when Hibari snapped.

"I'll bite you to death," he cried.

"Oh little brother," Chrome teased, "How can you do that when you don't have your tonfas?"

She held up his tonfas to show what she meant. Hibari growled as he bent down to grab his weapons.

"Kyoya," Kyoko yelled out, holding her son firmly onto the platform, "I haven't finished fixing the dress yet!"

Chrome backed away from the platform, letting Hibari reach as far as he could.

"Dammit Chrome, give it back!" he shouted with fury.

"Look little brother," Chrome persisted to further annoy her brother, "you are much taller than me, but you can't even get your own tonfas from this far."

"That's it!"

Hibari pushed his mother aside (as gently as possible if I may add) and kicked. Chrome blocked it with his tonfas and jumped onto the platform, spinning the tonfas in front of Hibari's face teasingly. Kyoko sighed at the two, and then smiled amusingly. Though the two siblings sometimes did not get along, they only showed their true characters when they were together.

Hibird flew away from Hibari's head to avoid the impact of an elbow aimed at that area. He landed safely on Kyoko's shoulder and resumed singing Namimori's anthem.

_itsumo kawaranu  
sukoyaka kenage  
aa-  
tomo ni utaou  
namimorichuu_

_Those two need to stop now_, Kyoko decided. Picking herself up, Kyoko walked up to the brawling royal teenagers.

"Okay you two," Kyoko murmured gently, "stop fooling around now and apologize to one another."

They paused to gaze upon their mother.

"Well?" the queen asked. The two stared at each other.

"I apologize," Hibari began, "mother that you had to give birth, before me, to a bitch for a daughter and sister."

"Kyoya!" Kyoko exclaimed. Hibari ignored his mother and gave Chrome the finger. Chrome walked up to her brother and held up two fingers.

"What's that supposed to do," Hibari mused. Chrome smiled.

"And I apologize, little brother," said Chrome, "that for just being one year younger than me, you're blind."

"What are you talking about," Hibari remarked, "I can still see."

"This is what I mean." Chrome used her two fingers to poke Hibari's eyes.

"Ah!" Hibari rubbed his abused pupils.

"Chrome!" Kyoko was getting nowhere with her yelling.

"And that's what you're suppose to do with your fingers," Chrome proclaimed. And the two were at it again.

"You two stop," Kyoko exasperated, "this instant so we can finish this already!"

The two seemed to not be listening to their mother, and instead continued to fight. Kyoko watched them silently for a few minutes. Then, with one hand she gripped Hibari's ear and the other she pulled at the collar of Chrome's school uniform to bring them both down onto the floor with a force nobody would have thought she had. The two looked up, dazed, at their mother.

"Are you two done?" Kyoko asked sweetly. Chrome and Hibari nodded slowly.

"Then let's finish up!" the queen cried cheerfully.

---

"So, when can I see this, ugh, Dino person?" Tsuna asked Ryohei. Ryohei grinned.

"He accompanied me on my trip here," said Ryohei, "The guy personally wanted to meet you before he started investigating. He didn't want you to wonder nervously about what type of guy he is."

_That was nice of him_, Tsuna thought. He looked up when the two doors opened again, and gaped at the huge body of black suits that were coming in.

"Who are they?" the king asked.

"Dino's men," Ryohei answered. Tsuna gawked. This brought a whole new respect for whoever the assassin was.

"They're not going to be living here, right?" Tsuna asked.

"No, they'll be at our secret base for now," said a new voice.

The black suited men parted to give leeway for a blonde man to pass through. He wore a furry hooded jacket, which was new to Tsuna, and jeans.

"Greetings King Tsunayoshi X," said Dino politely, "I just met up with Sasagawa between the Chiavarone and Varia Kingdoms. I know I didn't give you much warning about my visit, but I needed to get your approval before I lay out my plan."

Tsuna nodded silently. He had not expected a nice guy like Dino to be the top assassin. He was more thinking along the lines of cruel and scary like Reborn.

"Okay," Dino began, "first, there are some news on Mukuro's whereabouts."

"So you guys know where he is," Tsuna asked excitedly.

"Not really," Dino responded, "because of Mukuro's illusions, his palace is masked by its surroundings (_He lives in a palace?_ Tsuna thought curiously). But Romario (Dino pointed to one man in the sea of black suits) there is working on a gadget that can detect the illusions."

"That's good," Tsuna agreed, "How long will it take?"

"Around five weeks."

"That's too long! Mukuro could appear at any moment!" Tsuna covered his mouth when his knights looked at him once again (they were already suspicious about the men in black suits). Dino sighed.

"I know," the assassin replied, "but it's not an ordinary person we're working with here, he's using magic to escape."

Tsuna frowned. "Then five weeks will work."

"Thanks your Majesty," Dino thanked, then went on.

"Now the second is communication. My team has decided to use video cameras to scope every part of the castle to figure out where Mukuro is getting entrance."

"A video camera?" Both Tsuna and Ryohei asked. Dino passed a rather strange looking device to Tsuna. The king and the fighter stared at it.

"Press that green button there." Tsuna pressed it.

"…What's it supposed to do?"

"Romario!"

"Here Boss," Romario brought in a TV and turned it on. It showed the bolted doors that the camera was pointed towards. Tsuna jumped and Ryohei gawked. Gokudera, who had been silent this whole time, believed that this was some kind of gift from the gods.

"This is the latest device in technology," Dino explained, "We just hang it up somewhere in a room and it tapes all the events that has happened. My men will keep watch that way."

The assassin's men praised how cool and calm Dino was acting about this.

"Um," Tsuna muttered sheepishly, "Could you not put this up in my bedroom? I'd rather not let anybody see my wife and I do our… well… business."

"Oh," Dino exclaimed, "of course we'll keep it away from your room, then."

"Then could you also keep it away from my kids' rooms?" Tsuna looked at Dino's men. "It's not that I don't trust them, it's just, I don't want them to see my kids dress."

"We won't get into your family's personal space, King Tsunayoshi," Dino laughed.

"I told you, you were a funny man Sawada," Ryohei joked, patting Tsuna's back roughly while laughing at whatever the king meant by _business_.

"Boss," said Romario, "we have to go get your bags from the carriage."

"Alright," Dino agreed. He turned his attention back to Tsuna as his men marched out.

"And after we figure out Mukuro's hideout and contact, we can arrest both him and the henchman… or men. Apparently, I heard you really hated seeing someone get killed, no matter what the person, so as ordered, I'll leave it to you to decide Mukuro's fate."

Tsuna nodded again, he really had no clue what to say except… Wow what a guy.

"Oh, and another thing I forgot to tell you," said Dino, "I find it easier to work closely with my clients. So, I'll be disguised as a new knight. It might help to see what your men's views are."

"I guess that will be alright," Tsuna said, though in the back of his mind, he did not want to believe that any of his men would backstab him.

"I think it would be good," Dino stated, "if I checked your castle to get familiar with the surroundings."

"O-of course you can," Tsuna stammered, mildly surprised by Dino's statement. He passed a chain of keys to Dino, who smirked and strolled along the red carpet to the exit. Tsuna smiled. He felt he could trust this man in guarding his family.

All of a sudden, Dino tripped and crashed into the carpet, causing it to fold and ripple, tripping some knights in turn. _Eh?_ Tsuna thought. Dino got up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ha ha," he joked, "I must have been numb after the long ride."

Tsuna nodded, hoping that was the case. Dino walked once again, and when he opened the door, he accidentally slammed two of the knights in the face. _What's going on?!_ Tsuna's mind was beginning to send warnings.

"Ah, sorry," Dino apologized to the unconscious knights.

Turning around, Dino hit his head on the door.

"Ack," he exclaimed, "I think I might need to rest before I search around."

The door closed afterwards, and all Tsuna could think was: _Was that really the top assassin back there?_

---

"Kyoya!" Was the cry of Queen Kyoko as Hibari rushed away from her. It was **not** alright making him wear a dress, and it _is_ definitely **not** alright to make him wear heels with it! Going back to the Great Hallway, he knocked on the same wall that Reborn had knocked on, and quickly sat himself in the dumbwaiter as he plunged down to the basement.

Chrome, seeing her mother was distracted, took the advantage to leave quietly so she could call Mukuro.

"Chrome!"

Darn it. "Yes mother?"

"Could you please find Kyoya? I need that dress back."

"I will mother," said Chrome, damning her brother for being such a problem child.

Remembering her brother's hiding place, she cramped herself into the dumbwaiter, her legs sticking out at the top. _How does he still fit?_ She wondered.

---

"I thought I heard the noises of a familiar klutz here."

Dino, who had gone through some of the doors in the Great Hallway by accident (as in he clumsily crashed through it without a key), smiled when he realized who it was.

"Reborn! What are you doing here?"

"I work here," was Reborn's explanation.

"Really," Dino asked, bewildered, "so you retired to work for the king?"

"A useless king," Reborn commented. Dino laughed.

"Even as my mentor you were always so negative," Dino mused, "Hopefully you didn't teach the king's children your ideals."

"Too late."

"Ha ha." Dino noticed an alleyway at a corner in the Great Hallway, and pursued his search there. He saw two doors and pushed. One opened and creaked. _Why is this door open?_ He thought.

"You shouldn't open that door," Reborn stated.

"Hmm, but I need to check out all the… woaaaah!" Dino yelled as he fell.

Reborn walked up to the open door and looked down.

"The stairs to the basement were taken away a long time ago."

And with that, Reborn left, leaving Dino to crash into the packs of boxes and crates. Gradually sitting up, and groaning when his back cracked, he looked around. How can you get into a basement without stairs?!

"Who's there?"

Dino was surprised to hear a voice in a place like this, and at first thought the impact hit his head (especially when his sight was blurry and spinning). But when a cold metallic weapon was pressed against his chin, he knew his mind was still focused.

"I'll bite you to death!"

Author's Note:

Yes, the time of the kings and queens were not the time of video cameras. Well King Tsuna, welcome to the 21st century! And I'm seriously sorry if Dino sounds OOC-ish… I haven't seen him for a while in the series… so I don't remember much, XD… and his scene might have seemed a bit rushed, so I apologize. Also, Chrome was supposed to be a bit OOC if that's how you readers thought. I also wanted to add that Namimori is a middle school while Kokuyo is a high school (just in case anybody got confused). And yes, Chrome is older than Hibari in this story (But why she isn't being bothered about engagements, I have no clue). Well, I'll be writing the next chappie soon, so please wait!


	4. The Unexpected Encounter

Author's Note:

I made sure I would finish this during New Years, so here it is, the moment we've all been waiting for, Hibari and Dino's meeting! Too bad it's not so romantic, XD. It took me a while to write this chapter, I'm not really the romantic type unless it is angsty, suspenseful, or dramatic, ha ha. And my sister was downloading something that made the computer retarded -_-But alas, I wrote it with ideas coming at me little by little. My hardest part was writing Dino's description of Hibari without getting all sappy and exaggerated, XD, but it probably is, ha ha. I had lots of fun with the Yamamoto and Gokudera scene, and the Tsuna vs. Hibari scene, XD. Good news is, I'm more than halfway done with the next chapter, that one was definitely fun… probably because it has my three favorite characters in it (in order: Hibari, Mukuro, and Chrome). Anyways, enjoy readers, and have a happy New Year!

Kudos to:

thPeekaBoo- wow, when I saw your review, I felt it was just a few seconds ago when I downloaded the third chapter, XD. Thanks for your second review!

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- yes, I'm in love with cliffies, XD, and yes! Dino will see Hibari in a dress, woot! Anyways, I might consider the voting thing… probably later though, XD. Thanks for reviewing again.

Kimiyeo- actually, Dino's men left the castle to get his stuff, XD, but oh well. Thanks for reviewing and you're welcome!

Xraaawrx- Yay, new reviewer, XD! And if I ever see Ryohei marry Lussuria, I might die, jk. Thanks for taking the time to review my chapters, and I agree, sibling love is the best! (even if your sister punches whenever you try to hug her T_T)

**Warnings: **Some bad language, sexual humor, crossdressing, shounen-ai, triangle or threesome (still thinking on that), and a violently pissed Hibari.

**Ch. 4 The Unexpected Encounter**

Five minutes had passed, and Hibari was still stuck in this dastardly dress! The only thing he had accomplished doing was ripping off the skirt so much that it looked like a miniskirt (thankfully he had boxers underneath). He tried once again to pull the bottom up. It would not budge. The prince growled and sat inside his Resting (not Comfort) Box, crossing his arms like a spoiled child who did not get what he/she wanted. If Hibari had his choice, he would have ripped the dress up into pieces. But, knowing his mother, he did not, as he always tried to stay on his mother's good side. His mother's bad side was a whole different story that he would rather not bother at all.

Defeated by mere clothing, Hibari contemplated over a way to escape from the basement to his room without anyone seeing him, so he would at least keep his dignity. Maybe he could skip school for today (he felt miserable for ever thinking of neglecting Namimori) and stay here till nightfall so that by the time he came out, everyone was fast asleep. Other ideas were laid out, but he had no time to picture them when a loud crash arrived near the walls of the basement. Dust gathered up in that direction and Hibari got up to see what had happened. Moving closer, he backed away just as a groan sounded. _An intruder_, Hibari thought. Taking out his tonfas he called out, "Who's there?"

No answer. Hibari waited for the dust to disperse in order to get a better look. He glared when he saw a blonde man in foreign clothing.

"I'll bite you to death," the prince threatened, placing one tonfa under the man's chin.

Dino, somewhat falling out of his stupor, held his hands up drunkenly and murmured, "No need… No need to..."

Hibari raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"An… accident."

His vision clearing and his brain functioning correctly, Dino was amazed by the sight he was seeing. Slim waist and a slight curve of the hips that looked somewhat fragile (though we all know Hibari's not the fragile type); a dress that was a creamy custard color which looked nice with pale skin; peculiar but adorable Hibird-patterned boxers with Namimori's school colors that concealed what the dress could not; nice slender arms and legs; and the most significant part, the face, which was slightly round and had alluring onyx eyes that seemed to brighten fiercely with Hibari's glare; fine lips, and jet black hair that looked smooth to the touch. All in all to Dino, who hadn't seen a woman in gosh knows how long, drop-dead gorgeous.

Dino was sure this was not King Tsuna's daughter, Chrome Sawada. As seen in the Sawada family profile, Chrome's portrait looked nothing like this woman's. And the voice was a bit low compared to what he expected the princess's voice to sound like.

"Who are you?" Hibari carried on his interrogation.

"Dino Cavallone," the assassin said in his trance. What was wrong with him?! He was supposed to think of an alias!

"Cavallone, who would name their child that?"

"No, no, it's my last name. And yours is?"

"Hmph, I might as well tell my victim the name of the man who will kill him. It's Hibari. Now prepare to be bitten to death!"

Dino ducked from a blow, and pushed himself up; only to fall down as another closely hit his head. _She's fast_, Dino thought. Taking out his whip, Dino jumped aside from the woman, then uncoiled his whip and clasped it onto one of Hibari's tonfas. Hibari growled and pulled his trapped tonfa. Dino stood on his heels and was able to force the woman's grip to release the tonfa. Unluckily, as the assassin was about to grab the tonfa, it hammered at his head and he collapsed yet again. Hibari smirked.

"Pathetic," Hibari remarked, "but after that attack, I guess I was wise to assume you were an intruder. Die."

Holding his tonfa threateningly against Dino's cheek, Hibari spoke vehemently.

"I'll give you five seconds to explain yourself, intruder. 5…"

"Wait!"

"4."

"You're mistaken!"

"3…2…"

"Look Hibari," Dino walked up to Hibari, and tripped over a cord. He held onto Hibari for support, and ended up bringing him down with him.

Expecting a hard drop to the floor, Dino was surprised when he didn't feel much pain. Instead, his lips were pressed on something soft. He hovered his head a little to see he had just kissed a pale thigh. Dino's right hand was on something that was just as soft. Pushing himself up a little, he noticed the soft thing was sort of well, squishy. The body beneath him jerked. Dino thought that if his lips were on Hibari's thigh, then his hands were… oh dear.

Hibari, who ended up being the cushion for the fall, blushed and almost yelped when he felt something squeeze his left butt cheek.

"Get off of me!"

He pushed Dino off, and swiftly got up. Then, Hibari felt a wet, cold, and slimy thing on his thigh, and looked down. Saliva. Quickly, he swiped it away with the sleeve of his dress. He glared at Dino.

"Eheheh," was all Dino could say at that moment.

"You really are wishing for your death sentence, Cavallone." Only a couple minutes they had met, and Hibari was already saying his surname like it was a curse.

"Hibari," Dino tried one last time, "could you please listen to me just this once?"

Hibari continued his stare for a few seconds before his arms fell to the side. "Fine, but only because I don't want you making a foolish move like that again. State your business here."

"I'm applying to serve as a knight."

Hibari smirked. "Aren't you lucky? I got several of the knights here fired for pulling bone-headed remarks. Let's hope you don't do the same thing."

Good, good, Dino thought, he was getting through the woman.

"Though of what use you are, I have no clue." _That was rather rude, _Dino thought.

"If you're able to fire knights," Dino questioned, "of what status are you?"

"Higher than yours," Hibari commented. This woman sure knew how to bring a guy down. _She must be influenced by Reborn_, Dino thought.

"Mind explaining how you ended up here?" Hibari asked.

"Um, well," Dino began, "the king allowed me to look around before he hired me. I must have gotten lost and ended up falling from the door up there."

Pointing up to the ancient door swinging in the air, Hibari frowned. "Fa… the king didn't even tell you about the basement?"

"Must have slipped his mind." _That's so like my father, _Hibari groaned mentally.

"How about you?"

"I live here."

"In this basement," Dino gasped. Hibari threw his other tonfa at Dino's forehead.

"Of course not! I live in this castle."

"Got that."

"Cavallone," Hibari threatened, "if you're going to live here, you better stay away from me or else you'll face a far worse case than death. I won't have you falling on me in so humiliatingly a posture again."

_So this woman was Miss Doom and Gloom_, Dino commented in his head.

---

Chrome, who finally managed to free herself from the small encased dumbwaiter, had a hard time seeing anything, with her one eye, in the darkness. "Little brother?"

"Could you help me up here, Hibari?" A foreign voice (literally with Dino's Italian accent)! She ran to a corner and hid behind a couple of boxes to see what was going on. The princess's violet eye widened when she peeked and saw Hibari pick up the stranger. _My little brother's helping! And it's a total stranger he's helping!_

"Little brother!"

"Chrome?" Hibari turned towards his sister.

"What are you doing, little brother," Chrome asked worriedly.

"Helping this herbivore up so I can kick him out."

"You don't even know him!"

"He said his name was Dino Cavallone." Chrome remembered this name from somewhere, but was more worried about Hibari at this time.

"So you're not strangers because he told you his name?"

Hibari paused to think about that. "…Yeah."

"Little brother!"

While the siblings argued, Dino was taking in the information he just got. Chrome? That meant that the person he was talking to was the… Oh great, even the prince had an alias readily made. What was going on with himself lately? Wait… prince?

"You're a guy?!"

Everything went silent. Dino made a major mistake in saying that. He wanted to crawl up in a corner when he sensed and saw the dark aura that surrounded Hibari he would have never seen in his whole life as the top assassin. So much for the goody-good first impression. The prince grabbed Dino by his jacket and threw him back up to the doors he came from.

Though Dino was a foreigner, Chrome felt sorry for the assassin getting involved with her brother. She then gaped when she saw Hibari get into the dumbwaiter, leaving his legs out so he could move freely as he pulled the rope to bring him up. _So that's what he does!_ She exclaimed in her thoughts.

---

Three knights strolled around the castle, talking about whatever knights talk about. They grinned lecherously as a woman stomped across from their path, dragging some huge baggage, they thought.

"Oi Jeff, now's your time," joked one of them. The bald guy in the middle shook his head.

"Nah, can't do it without feeling guilty with my wife at home," he said, "why don't you do it Bill?"

"Oh I'll do it," said the third, "Hey toots, need some help with that?!"

They jumped when the so-called 'toots' turned around and revealed _her_self to be Hibari. He glared murderously and prowled closer to them. "What was that again?"

"Ahaha, we didn't know it was you, Hibari."

"Yeah, we were just joking around."

"Joking, really?" Hibari smirked. "Then why don't I show you something to laugh about?"

The three men shivered when they saw that what Hibari was actually dragging was a man.

---

From the Throne Room, you could hear begging and pleading, then screams and the clanking and clashing of metal.

"What's going on out there?" King Tsuna asked.

His question was shortly answered as the three knights and Dino were thrown through the bolted doors and skidded across the carpet floor. Hibari entered and put one foot on top of the knocked out men. He glowered at his father. _He's really pissed_, Tsuna thought, nervously chattering his teeth.

"Kyoya, my nephew," Ryohei shouted, "I want you to join…"

"No." Hibari knocked Ryohei on the head with his tonfas. At first, Tsuna panicked as blood spilled out of Ryohei's head, but was soon relieved when Ryohei sat up and yelled, "Continue fighting to the extreme, Kyoya!"

He went unconscious soon after.

The knights, who were around the room, stared at Hibari's unusual choice of wear.

"What are you all staring at?"

They shook with fear when Hibari came over to them and held up their shields for protection. Hibari simply rammed his knees through their armor, which dug into their stomachs, beating the air out of them.

The king flinched when Hibari turned to look at him. In Tsuna's perspective, he could literally see the Dying Will Flames emitting from his son.

"Father," the prince ordered, "I want all these men fired from their jobs. And this guy…"

Hibari held up Dino, who was slightly regaining consciousness. "I would advise you not to hire."

"I can't do that to _all_ my men!" Tsuna exclaimed instantaneously, "And that guy, ugh…"

"Dino," the assassin murmured. Tsuna thought that it was a bold move to use his actual name instead of an alias.

"Dino is your second guardian knight." Hibari's eyes narrowed and raised his tonfas.

"Do you think I can't defend myself, father?"

"Well, for now, I really don't," Tsuna answered honestly, having Mukuro on his mind. Hibari's glare deepened.

"Then why don't I show you?"

"Don't be rash, Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaimed. Hibari stalked up to his father anyway, readily in his fighting stance.

"Wait Kyoya."

Both father and son looked up to see Reborn standing on top of Tsuna's throne.

"You can't fight the king until he accepts," Reborn raised his gun to King Tsuna's head, "which he will."

"Wait, Reborn, don't!" Bang! Tsuna fell to the ground. _Reborn shot the king! _Dino exclaimed in his head.

"Reborn! Fight my son as if I were to die!" Tsuna stood up in only boxers, the Dying Will Flame blaring on his forehead. _The profiles weren't joking_, Dino thought, _that King Tsuna liked to fight half naked._

"Well, won't this be fun?" Hibari commented.

---

Yamamoto and Gokudera, the soul survivors of Hibari's rampage, hurriedly headed out before the battle between father and son commenced. Once safely at a distance, they laughed.

"Ha ha," Yamamoto laughed, "I can't believe what I just saw there. It was enough that Hibari-san was wearing a dress, but to add a half naked king? Wow!"

"I respect the Tenth," Gokudera snickered, "but that was hilarious! Especially when you saw how serious they were!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yamamoto gasped out, "I would have stayed to watch the fight, except I'd rather be able to move today than be beaten to death from laughing."

As he pulled himself together, Yamamoto thought of something that was pretty peculiar to him.

"Hey Hayato," he asked, "you know how Hibari-san always fights men? How come he never fights women?"

"First of all, it would make him look stupid," Gokudera explained, "And secondly, everyone knows that the guy's a Mama's Boy."

"Really?!" Gokudera wanted to punch the knight real badly.

"Yes, and it was obvious when you saw him as a child always clinging onto the queen, idiot."

"That's true. But what does that have to do with not fighting women?"

"If you love your mother, you respect women." Though this did not relate to Gokudera, who was rebellious no matter what.

"I didn't think of that."

"That's because you always have baseball on your mind, you fanatic."

"Not true, I think of you."

"Stop with that sappy romantic crap!" Gokudera then forced Yamamoto to bow down so his lips were next to his ear. "Okay, this is supposed to be a secret; however I'll let you in on it if you promise not to tell."

"My lips are sealed."

"Close enough. Anyways, there's another reason why the guy would never harm a woman."

"What is it?" Gokudera whacked the back of Yamamoto's head.

"I'm getting to that!" He went on. "There was this rumor this guy told me about my sister."

"Bianchi?"

"Would you stop interrupting? Well, he said that one time, the bratty prince came to the kitchen to personally request a meal from my sister.

The brat was about six then, and saw Bianchi's wedding ring for Reborn."

"She was going to propose to Reborn?"

"In her dreams, yes. So, like any kid, he was attracted to the shiny object and decided to play with it. Apparently it slipped out of his hand and went into the drain of the kitchen sink. Bianchi heard about it and was pissed, like she always is with every Reborn-related shit. She took her revenge on the brat by poisoning his food. The guy wouldn't stop throwing up for a whole three weeks."

"Wow, I feel sorry for Hibari-san now. How do you know it was true if it was just a rumor?"

"The guy doesn't eat anything that is made from the kithcen, remember?"

"Oh right. What about the Japanese food?"

"It was made from Japan."

Yamamoto laughed.

"And since when did you call that guy Hibari-san?" Gokudera eyed Yamamoto suspiciously.

"Since he told me to." Gokudera rolled his eyes and turned his head away from Yamamoto.

"Idiot." Yamamoto smiled and wrapped an arm around Gokudera's shoulder.

"I know, but you still love me, right?"

"Shut up!"

---

"Boss," called Romario, watching the other men bring in some covered equipments and suitcases, "sorry it took so long for us to come back. The equipment was much heavier than we expected. And we… Boss?"

The men were shocked seeing all the knights, Ryohei, King Tsuna, and their boss lying on the floor and beaten badly.

"Boss!" The men dropped everything in their hand to head up to their leader.

"Did Mukuro do this?!"

"No," Dino murmured, spitting some blood out, "just a rambunctious teenager."

"You have no idea," Tsuna moaned.

Author's Note:

Hmm, this was longer than I expected it to, XD. And boy, a very aggravated Hibari is not a good thing for these guys, ha ha. Everyone be happy that Mukuro will appear in the next chapter!!! YAY!!! And some small drama. Yay!!!


	5. The Reflection

**Author's Note**:

I noticed in the last chapter there were some mishaps. Will I edit them? Probably not, -_-;… And though there were only a few reviews (I expected that, it was only a day anyways, XD), I will post the next chapter anyways, since I finished it already, ha ha. I had fun writing about Mukuro in this chappie, and the siblings were aiding each other in this chapter as well! Not much comedy in this chapter, so I'm very happy (loves serious stuff). And it's nice to have a chapter before school starts once again *groans*. So enjoy readers!

Yays to:

icannotspeakenglish- thanks for reviewing! And it's good to know that you like the story so far, XD.

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- ha ha, your laughing reminded me that Bel is not hurt in the latest chapter of Reborn… YAY!!! And it's okay, laughing is enough of a comment for me, XD.

**Warnings:** Not much bad stuff in this chapter, but later on (and soon enough) there will be violence, bad language, shounen-ai, triangle or threesome, etc. etc.

**Ch. 5 The Reflection**

Chrome climbed up the stairs silently, making sure she did not make a noise. Peering from a corner, she checked to see if anyone was around. It was empty. Chrome sighed in relief as she went over to her room. Inside, the walls were covered up with replicas of famous paintings (the Mona Lisa for example) and mirrors, which she hurriedly glanced around at.

"Mukuro-sama," she called out, "Mukuro-sama."

"_Chrome_."

"Mukuro-sama!" She looked around where her bathroom door was, since that was where she heard Mukuro's voice.

"_Chrome._"

"Where are you Mukuro-sama?"

"_In here Chrome."_

Chrome found the source of the voice and opened the bathroom door. Huge in size, she wondered where Mukuro would be. Evidently her sink was clogged, for the water had flooded to the tip.

"_Chrome._" The water rippled and spilled onto its surroundings and the tiled floor. Chrome walked over to the sink, and saw only her reflection. All of a sudden, the water twirled and whirled, creating a mini typhoon in the sink. When the water settled, Mukuro appeared in place of her reflection, sitting on a comfy-looking black chair.

"Mukuro-sama," asked Chrome, "what are you doing here?"

"The mirrors in your room have become too dangerous to communicate from," Mukuro stated, folding his hands onto his lap, "People will be able to hear us there."

The princess nodded. "Father has hired the top assassin to capture you."

"Kufufu," Mukuro mused, "Isn't that a nice welcome gift for my return?"

"Mukuro-sama," said Chrome, taking this seriously.

"Not to worry, Chrome," said Mukuro, "As long as he doesn't interfere with my plan, I will be alright."

"But Mukuro-sama," Chrome exclaimed, "the man is inventing a weapon that will be able to detect your illusions!"

"Interesting," Mukuro replied thoughtfully, "and has he finished it yet?"

"No, he said it won't be finished till five weeks."

Mukuro rubbed his chin. "Five weeks, eh? More than enough time to set my plan to work. Has he done anything else?"

Chrome remembered finding Dino in the basement with Hibari.

"Other than those strange video cameras," answered Chrome, "that my father entrusted him not to put into my room, I've only seen him talk with my little brother. Though he was acting a bit too familiar."

_I wouldn't want him to get too close with my little brother,_ Chrome thought, her protective big sister instincts kicking in. Mukuro's eyes narrowed, his smile still plastered on his face.

"Familiar, hmm," the illusionist murmured to himself, "That certainly puts a damper to my plan."

Then aloud, "Chrome, what was this man's name?"

"Dino Cavallone."

"Cavallone," said Mukuro, "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."

Putting his pondering aside, he brought his attention back to Chrome.

"Chrome."

"Yes, Mukuro-sama?"

"I need you to watch those two if you see them together." Chrome was shocked by the request. Though she did not like the man, she respected her brother's personal space. Hibari had enough trouble with Tsuna as it is.

"I can't," Chrome responded.

"Chrome," said Mukuro tauntingly, "I thought we made a deal, that we sealed with your right eye."

Chrome pressed against her patched eye, and then sighed. "Your right Mukuro-sama, I'm sorry."

"No need to be." Mukuro looked up above Chrome's head; there was a silver designed clock that read: 8:30. "Looks like you have to get ready for school, Chrome."

"Mukuro-sama!" Chrome whined, not wanting to remember that she forgot to do some of her homework last night.

"Now, now, Chrome, education is an important asset to your life," Mukuro teased in a fatherly fashion, holding up his index finger and moving it side to side and adding a "Tsk, tsk."

Chrome frowned. "I don't need _you_ to tell me that."

"That's mean," Mukuro pouted, "I happen to have a very high IQ. I just never used it when I was a teen."

The princess giggled at that, walking away and ready to close the bathroom door.

"There's one more thing I need from you, Chrome." Chrome looked behind.

"Yes, Mukuro-sama?" A long, pale hand maneuvered out of the water. The index finger pointed at Chrome.

"Come closer." The finger motioned for Chrome to do what was told. Chrome walked back to the sink, and then leaned down so that her left cheek was right next to the water. Mukuro's face popped from the water, and his hand cupped Chrome's ear so he could whisper more clearly.

"In three weeks on a Friday night," he whispered, "I need you to go to your father's office. There, on top of his desk will be an old brown book with a lock on it. Take it and give it to me once you come back here."

The hand sank back into the depths of the water, and returned with a key. Chrome held out a hand, which Mukuro gently placed the key onto. "This is a replica of the key to your father's office."

"How come I cannot go do it tonight," questioned Chrome.

"Your father hasn't taken the book out yet."

"Then," Chrome asked, "how do you know he'll bring it out on that Friday night?"

"Because," Mukuro said with a grin, "I'll provoke the king into doing so. Kufufu."

"How?"

"I don't have enough time, Chrome," Mukuro explained, ducking half of his face back into the water, his red and blue eyes still hovering over, looking straight through Chrome at the opened bathroom door, "but after you give it to me, I'll be picking _him_ up."

"My father?" The illusionist shook his head, causing more water to drip to the floor.

"You remember the plan, Chrome," stated Mukuro.

"Then you mean my..."

"Chrome!" Chrome jumped when she heard Hibari's voice call her name. She turned around and yelled, "Just a minute!"

She looked back to see that the water and Mukuro had vanished.

_"Kufufu, remember our deal, Chrome." _Mukuro's voice echoed.

"Chrome," Hibari called once more. Chrome gathered up her wits and sauntered over to her brother.

"Yes little brother?"

"Could you help me take this dress off?" Hibari looked down in shame.

Chrome gawked. "You still have it on?!"

"I can't take it off myself," he murmured. Chrome tried to keep back her laughter.

"Well, I'll certainly help," she said, "but first…"

She opened one drawer next to her bed and took out a camera. "Say cheese."

Snap! The camera printed out the picture, and Chrome smiled. She showed it to Hibari.

"Look how girly you are in that dress!"

Hibari frowned. "I should take a picture of you as well, with that ridiculous pineapple head."

"My hairstyle is not ridiculous," said Chrome, "unlike the way you wear your prefect uniform."

The prince glared. "Just hurry up and help me take this dress off before we start fighting again."

"Okay," Chrome agreed. She took the ends of the dress and tried to pull it up.

"That's strange," said Chrome, "I think mother made it too tight. She should have at least added a zipper at the back."

"Can you take it off?" Hibari asked. Chrome inspected the dress for a moment.

"I think I can," said Chrome, "but I don't think the dress will come out unharmed."

Hibari groaned. "That's what I thought."

Chrome went to her drawers and got out a pair of scissors. "Might as well try to do the least amount of damage."  
She went towards the back of Hibari, and held the top of the dress, wear she carefully cut across the middle.

It was silent for a few seconds, and then Hibari said, "Chrome?"

"Mhm?" The princess was concentrating on the task at hand, making sure she did not cut so awkwardly.

"You do know you can call me by my name, right?"

Chrome stopped snipping. Then, she pinched Hibari's cheek. "But I think its cuter calling you little brother."

"Don't do that," Hibari complained, pulling Chrome's hand from his cheek, wincing as his cheek stretched farther than it usually would. "Its worse enough that mother does it."

Chrome laughed and went back to work, frowning. _I'm sorry for lying to you, little brother. It's just that, I can't say your name when I feel like I've betrayed you somehow._

---

"It's done!" Chrome exclaimed, parting the slit she made on the dress. The sleeves slipped from Hibari's arms, and the dress fell to Hibari's ankles. He picked up the dress and sat on Chrome's bed to get a better look.

"Mother's not going to like that," he commented. Chrome thought of an idea.

"Why don't we make an excuse?"

Hibari eyed his sister suspiciously, "What kind?"

Chrome whispered into Hibari's ear, and he smirked in amusement. "Are you going to do it, then?"

"Nope," said Chrome, "she cares about you more."

From the looks on Hibari's face, he definitely did not like that.

"I think we should both do it," he stated.

"… No, I really believe you should do it."

"You're the one who thought of the idea. So why aren't you doing it?"

Chrome sighed. "Fine, we'll both do it. But you'll owe for the mess I'll end up looking like when I go to school."

Smirking, Hibari reached under Chrome's bed and took out her trident. Holding up to her, he asked, "Would you like to be the first to do the honors, then?"

---

Afterwards, Kyoko was panicking when she saw Hibari holding the dress with wounds all over his body, and Chrome in the same condition (though with her clothes on, but torn). She hugged her children, crying.

"I can't believe a herd of warthogs came and attacked my darlings in the woods! My poor babies!"

Indeed, Kyoko was too worried about her _darling_ kids to mention about Hana's dress being in ruins.

**Author's Note:**

What is Mukuro planning? What is Chrome's deal with Mukuro? What will happen to Hibari? How does Mukuro know Dino? Answer: not telling! XD, you'll just have to sit back and wait till the story unfolds.


	6. The Black Cat

**Author's Note**:

This was probably one of the longest chapters I've written, XD. But it was really easy to finish, and I actually wrote part of the next chapter before I started on this one, ha ha. Took me a while though when my sister caught me working on this instead of homework, XD. This will be the last chapter until probably the weekends because of school -_-; There is some dark stuff in this one, I felt sad at the ending… but mostly happy for finally writing my suspense, XD. I made sure to have a somewhat pleasant beginning and middle before I plunged into the unpleasant things. And you'll all probably be more confused than before with how this chapter leaves you, XD. Please read the warnings so you know what you're about to read. This is also so you know what author you're dealing with and what you might see later on.

Lots of love to:

xraaawrx- you'll see some D18 soon… but for now, I wanted my violence, XD

icannotspeakenglish- thanks! And one of your guesses was true… I'll give you a hint: Mukuro never dated Dino, lol, I laughed when I read that, ha ha

dimonyo-anghel- you're too good of a guesser, stop doing that, jk, lol. Nah, keep guessing, some of it was right, it does involve Hibari, but you'll have to wait on the reason why Chrome feels like she betrayed her little bro

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- thanks! Everybody seems to like the warthog scene, ha ha. And yes, Mukuro's the best! XD And more suspense is to come!

**Warnings**: Violence, a semi-dark theme, animal abuse (hated to write this), some angst, some bad language

**Ch. 6 The Black Cat**

"You two, hurry up!" Kyoko yelled from downstairs. "Your carriage will be leaving soon!"

"Chrome, you took my comb!"

"That's because you stole one of my mirrors!"

"Kyoya! Chrome!" Kyoko tried a second time.

"We're coming!" They ran down the stairs, pushing at each other to be first.

"I win little brother." Chrome smiled and patted Hibari's head.

"You cheated."

"No I didn't."

"Relax you two," said Kyoko, "I'm sorry your father couldn't come see you leave for school. For some reason, all the men in the Throne Room were badly injured."

Hibari smirked at that. _Serves them right_, he thought.

"My brother told me," said Kyoko, "they were having a boxing match till one man was standing. How uncivilized men are."

"Like this one," Chrome commented, pointing at Hibari, who glared in turn. Their mother looked at them with a worried expression.

"You guys are sure you can go to school with those injuries?" Hibari rolled his eyes.

"Yes mother, we're not babies anymore."

Chrome went out while Kyoko gave Hibari a bento. Since Hibari never liked crowds, he never liked lunch lines, no matter how rich the food.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya," said Kyoko apologetically, "I didn't have enough time to make your lunch, so I had Bianchi do it."

Hibari stared long and hard at his bento. He did not feel so hungry anymore.

"Enjoy your day!"

---

Across a meadow, Mukuro stood, gazing at the morning sun, the only time he was allowed to stay outside freely. He was clad in a white buttoned shirt, black jeans, and a black choker that swallowed up the middle of his neck.

The illusionist heard a rustle behind him and turned. Beneath a tree, a pair of golden eyes stared at him in the shadows. Mukuro watched it curiously.

"Hello there," he greeted, "little fellow."

A cat came out of the shadows, basking its black fur against the sun.

"A black cat, eh?"

Mukuro squatted, and the cat came up and licked at Mukuro's gloved fingers.

"Kufufu, we have a lot in common, don't we?" He stated, playing with the cat's paws. "Humans are probably the most superstitious species of all, and we fall victim to their hatred. To them, you are bad luck and to them I _was_ a witch."

The cat nuzzled its head against Mukuro's hand and purred. Mukuro smiled.

"I wonder if humans are still so simple-minded."

---

Chrome never told this to anyone, but she actually had motion sickness. She kept her head out from the window of the carriage to take in the fresh air. Feeling the queasiness somewhat subside, she glared at her brother, who always fell asleep during car rides. He slept in the corner of the seat, his arms crossed, head tipped back, and mouth open with a little drool trickling down.

"I hope you have nightmares," Chrome remarked.

"My, my Chrome," said the driver, "you shouldn't be so pessimistic about your carsickness. Wishing ill-feelings for others isn't wise."

The princess thought it unusual that the driver called her by her first name instead of 'milady'.

"Please don't be so familiar with my name, Mister…"

She noticed the blue hair hidden beneath the bowler hat the driver wore.

"Mukuro-sama!" She realized.

Mukuro turned, took off his hat and bowed his head in respect.

"How do you do, Chrome," the illusionist greeted.

"What are you doing here," Chrome asked, "and what happened to the driver?!"

"Shh," Mukuro whispered, pointing to the sleeping Hibari. Chrome frowned.

"Well?"

"The driver's here," Mukuro replied, "I just dropped by because I wanted to put Kyoya on a little test."

Chrome did not understand how the driver was here when she could not see him.

"Test?" she asked.

"Kufufu, can't tell you what it is, or else you'd be upset."

"I'm upset now!"

"_Milady."_

"Milady, I'm used to seeing the prince sleep," commented the driver, "but for you? I'm astonished!"

Chrome groggily rubbed her eye. When did she fall asleep?

"Well, you best be going now, I think I just heard the bell ring for your school."

Chrome nodded and got out, taking a couple of seconds to look at the carriage. _I know you were there, Mukuro-sama_, she thought.

"Milady, did you forget something?"

Chrome shook her head. "Just looking."

"Okay then," said the driver, "I'll pick you up later."

He snapped the reins of the horses and they trotted away. It was then that Chrome saw Mukuro, sitting at the back of the carriage, waving to her. _What is he doing?_

---

_"Mommy, mommy," cried a little boy, "where are you?"_

_In the ball, at the Sawada Castle, the little boy had lost his mother from the swarms of people who gathered. Crowds scared him a lot, and it was worse when he was alone. It scared him even more that all the people were much bigger than him. Some asked if he wanted sweets or to play with the little kids. He hated both ideas. Some made him stay long to converse with unknown people. Some forced him out of some groups to avoid having to hear their conversation. Not able to take it anymore, he gave up on his search to escape outside, where there would be few people._

_He sat at a nearby bench, looking down at the grass that fluttered with the light breeze. He would not cry, he would not cry, he told himself. _

_"Interesting," said a voice, "why would the little prince be out here instead of enjoying his time at the ball? Unless the attention hasn't gotten to him, yet."_

_The boy looked up to see a tall man with an unusual color of hair and eyes._

_"Hello there, Prince Kyoya," said the man. Kyoya hated it when people knew who he was, but barely knew who they were._

_"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," stated Kyoya. The strange man smiled._

_"Kufufu," he mused, "if I told you my name, we wouldn't be strangers anymore, right?"_

_Kyoya thought about it then nodded. "But I still don't like you."_

_"Kufufu, you're an amusing little boy."_

_Kyoya jumped down from the bench. He did not like staying with this man._

_"I want my mommy," he said, walking away. The man placed his hand on Kyoya's shoulder._

_"How 'bout I help?" Kyoya's eyes widened._

_"You'll help me find my mommy?"_

_"Yup. With all the adults pushing a little kid like you away, I think I'll be able to push back." Kyoya smiled for a bit, but frowned as he realized something._

_"But I don't know your name. I can't walk with strangers." The man smiled._

_"It's Mukuro. Now," Mukuro picked up the little boy and gave him a piggyback, "you probably won't remember that later on, but for now, don't tell your parents you saw me."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Like you, they don't like me," answered Mukuro, he then added, "And if I meet you again, you'll keep it a secret, won't you?"_

_"Okay," Kyoya simply replied, not fully understanding what Mukuro meant. Afterwards, he blurted out a thought. _

_"Your hair is funny."_

_"Kufufu, do you think so?"_

"Wake up, sir, we've arrived at Namimori."

Hibari woke up and yawned. He had no clue why he dreamed of a memory from his childhood (he had forgotten how old he was then), especially when it was unimportant and silly. Yawning once more, he got out of the carriage and walked to his favorite school. His sister did not understand why he stayed there when he should already be in Kokuyo High. But to the prince, Namimori was like a sanctuary. A sanctuary needed very much with the way the beginnings of his day started.

---

For the Namimori Discipline Committee, the idea was to beat the unruly, but not get caught by the teachers at the same time. To Hibari, that was pretty easy. He blew a whistle loud enough for the whole school to hear, and all the male students aligned by their lockers (the girl's had separate lockers in another building). His gang of delinquents awaited his orders.

"You three," Hibari said, pointing at specific men, "take the guy not wearing his uniform to the bathroom. You four, take the two bubble blowers there to the PE locker rooms."

"And you…" He was not talking to his men, but instead to a lanky guy wearing glasses and braces "bring me some coffee."

"Yes Hibari-san," the nervous guy ran out to wherever the nearest coffee shop was, forgetting there was coffee in the teacher's lounge.

"What do you want me to do, Hibari?" It was Hibari's second-in-command, Kusakabe, asking the question.

"Kusakabe, watch for any other troublemakers and alert the others."

Some teens came in from the entrance, and Hibari thought, _Late_.

"I'll take these five tardy men to the roof."

They heard that and panicked, but were unable to do anything when Hibari grabbed them all by the shirt with one hand. Once he was at the stairs, he blew the whistle again, and everything resumed to its peaceful, ordinary day… except for the screams of the poor tormented victims.

---

"Chrome!" Chrome recognized the voice, and quickened her pace to reach her classroom. _Please don't come near me, please don't come near me_, she chanted.

"Wait Chrome!" A boy came running to Chrome.

"Leonardo, please leave me alone."

Leonardo nervously fiddled with his fingers. "A-are you still mad about our date?"

Chrome glared at the boy. "I should be, after you ditched me with the bill!"

Leonardo flinched. "S-sorry, but I really didn't have money that time."

"Then check before you take someone out!"

"I'm sorry for bothering you then, but King Byakuran wanted me to ask about your brother's answer."

"He said no to the engagement," Chrome stated, ready to leave.

"So King Byakuran was right, Mukuro will have to follow _his_ plan."

Chrome froze, and then grabbed the front of Leonardo's shirt.

"Do not speak of Mukuro-sama like that," Chrome exclaimed, "He wouldn't allow your so-called great king's plan to work."

"Then why did he agree to it?" Leonardo questioned.

"He promised me he wouldn't let it happen," Chrome affirmed.

"And you believe him?"

Chrome went silent. Then said, "Go back to your kingdom."

She let go of Leonardo and left, thinking, _I know he will. Mukuro-sama promised he would use his plan only_.

---

Yes, being a prefect was a hard job. Hibari yawned as he gladly took his sip of coffee. He headed for the disciplinary office, where he could relax to some peace and quiet. Passing by some lockers, he saw a man leaning against a wall wearing the janitor's olive green uniform. The janitor was next to his mop and pail, with his hands in his pockets, his hat hiding his facial features as he looked down.

"Janitor Wilmot," said Hibari, "I suspect you came here to clean the mess those herbivores left?"

"Sure thing, sir," the janitor said with a low, gruff voice.

"Good," Hibari stated, "then make sure afterwards to clean the cafeteria. It's a pigsty there."

"Yes sir." The janitor got his mop out and started cleaning the floor, his head still bent down.

Hibari was somewhat suspicious when the janitor would not show his face, and stared at the man for a minute. And he seemed to be hiding in the shadows as well.

"Somethin' the matter, sir?" The janitor asked. He stopped his mopping.

Hibari decided not to pursue his suspicions and shook his head. "Make sure to dry the floor before you leave."

"Aye, sir." Then, Hibari left. The janitor shook.

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughed; his voice at the normal pitches and tone. He looked up and glanced at the prince's back, "very perceptive, Sawada Kyoya."

_"Meow."_ Mukuro's stomach pushed out and in. The illusionist pulled the collar of his suit outward and fished inside, taking out the black cat he had just met not so long ago.

"Are you ready?" He asked, holding it by the skin between its shoulder blades. The cat nuzzled against Mukuro's cheek. Mukuro gave a sad smile.

"I'm sorry for using you as an experiment, but I need to test Kyoya."

Placing the cat on the floor, he watched as it wandered around its new surroundings.

"I promise that you will soon be in good hands."

---

After sleeping for what seemed like hours (actually thirty minutes), Hibari continued his excavation around Namimori. He heard some yelling and murmuring in one classroom nearby, and was at an indecision if he should go in or not (he did not want to end up staying if the teacher was present). Hibari wavered it was better to eavesdrop, and sauntered up to the door. He pressed his ear against the door.

"Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" exclaimed a female voice.

"Don't worry; possession doesn't happen if you cut these _horns_." explained a male voice.

A painful hiss.

"It won't possess you anymore, but it can still put a curse upon you." taunted another voice.

"I don't want that!"

Hibari opened the door, and his eyes widened at the scene. Three teenagers were sitting in a circle. There was a girl crying, a guy holding a scissor with blood at the blades, and another guy had his hands coiled around a black cat's neck. The black cat's ears were torn and bleeding, one limb went the wrong direction, one eye could barely open as a white and gooey substance covered its pupil and stuck its eyelids close together. The sight disgusted the prince so much; it felt like he was being shot at the heart many times over. He saw that there were other people in the classroom, crowded behind the circle, staring silently. Why weren't they doing anything?

"You're supposed to choke it," said the guy holding the cat's neck, "It destroys the vocal chords so that it can't spout out curses."

_Bang. _It was just a cat, Hibari wanted to say. The cat put up a small effort in movement and scratched the hand of the guy holding him. The guy yelped in pain.

"It probably just cursed me! What a monster!" _Bang. _What can a harmless cat do?

"More like a demon." _Bang. _Why would you call it such names?

A sudden surge of wrath filled Hibari's heart.

"What a load of bull." Another man came to the circle. He had a piercing on his ears and lip.

"If you guys are done playing," he said, "I'll be using this lighter and show you what dumbshits you are about that curse crap."

The guy grabbed the cat, and lit up his lighter. The cat hissed at the flaming ember, struggling to free itself from the man's grasp. A tap on his shoulder, and the earring man turned his head, and Hibari jabbed at the man's under jaw. Then, he used his tonfas to pummel the man's stomach, causing the pierced man to cough blood.

Next, he went after the guy who tried to choke the cat, and slammed his tonfa across the guy's cheekbone. The guy's eyes rolled up as he flew to a desk.

The last guy ran for it, reaching for the doorknob. That was all he could do, as he was grabbed by the shoulders and thrown to the wall.

---

Kusakabe whistled a light tune joyously as he dragged three men along the hallway. He laid them against the lockers, and left them as he meandered around the hall.

"Stop it," a female voice cried. Kusakabe jumped a little, and quickly ran behind the lockers. When he heard no one come by, he peeked out. Nope, no teachers, so where did that come from?

He realized that there was a classroom in this area (he made sure to note that for later references) and opened the door.

Hibari was holding some guy against a wall, a scissor in his hand held as if he were going to stab the man. This was not the Hibari Kusakabe knew. He would never attack in a classroom nor would he threaten to stab a man with a sharp object... especially when that man was already unconscious!

"Don't do that!" the girl cried once more. Hibari looked behind at the girl, dropped the man, and went to pull the woman's hair. Hibari **never** punished women. And Kusakabe was not going to have Hibari make this his first.

"Hibari!" Hibari froze.

"You gotta stop now!" Kusakabe only had a few seconds warning as he ducked from a tonfa thrown directly at him. Hibari's speed was high above the second-in-commands'. In exactly three seconds after Kusakabe ducked, Hibari aimed a kick at Kusakabe's guts. Kusakabe barely missed the hit, and blocked with his hand when Hibari was about to punch his face.

"Hibari, what are you…" He then observed something. Hibari's eyes were hallow, his emotions gone. _He's not even there,_ Kusakabe thought, _He's just fighting whoever's in his way_. Apparently, he did not expect the upcoming tonfa that slammed at his skull. Blood dripped from his temple, and the second-in-command collapsed to the floor.

"Mr. Sawada." Hibari turned to strike. His efforts were stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist. Hibari regained his conscience and looked around in surprise, then at the man in front of him.

"Colonello-sensei," he muttered.

Colonello shook his head at Hibari.

"Come with me, Mr. Sawada," he said, "you'll probably want to bring your little friend with you."

Hibari nodded solemnly. He walked up to the bloody unconscious bodies where the cat lay in the middle, barely able to move. The prince kneeled down and picked it up gently, holding it close to his chest. As he got up to follow his teacher, Hibari wondered what went wrong with him. He had dealt with this before, and thought he had gotten rid of _it_. Why was it happening again, then? He felt some guilt form in his chest as he saw Kusakabe lying on the floor. The spectators, who had gathered up along the walls, whispered and glanced at Hibari in fear. Too familiar was this scene, that Hibari was glad to leave the miserable atmosphere.

Mukuro, the cause of all this, watched as the door to the classroom opened next to him. He saw Hibari and Colonello leave opposite the direction he was at. The illusionist smiled.

"That's all I needed to know. You still can't control yourself, Kyoya. That's what I need for my plan to work."

The black cat climbed slowly up to Hibari's shoulder and meowed to Mukuro. The illusionist waved farewell to the cat. His form began to disappear.

"I would love to see that Cavallone try to tame him now."

He vanished.

Author's Note:

The Mukuro and Chrome scenes were actually just added, I decided in my head that it would help with the plot. Now how old was Mukuro when he met little Kyoya? I really don't know actually, XD. I bet there are more questions on how Byakuran fits in this plot, but that will be answered soon… I think, XD. Poor Hibari T_T This chapter was also based upon my opinions on superstition: mainly the black cat running across a person… it's not right to make a black cat seem like the bad guy T_T.


	7. Trigger

Ch. 7 Trigger

**Author's Notes:**

Hello to all my readers! I am finally able to post the next chappie! Yay! I could have finished this on Wednesday or Thursday, but two things have been preventing me from doing so: my sister's overuse of the computer and parental control. Yes, I've been banned from logging into fanfiction… So how am I here? My mom allowed only for this day to use it, thank goodness, XD. Anyways, Dino makes an appearance here once again! ^^ And for all those who were confused with Mukuro's last statement… that's a good thing! Ha ha, it will be vaguely explained in this chapter, but you'll have to wait on it, XD. And I just wanted to take the time to thank my reviewers and readers. You have all been an encouragement for me to finish this through all obstacles (very sappy, but I'm too happy to care, XD). Thank you very much!

I replied to pretty much all the reviews, but if you didn't get one please tell me, XD. And if you reviewers don't want me to reply, tell me that as well in the next reviews, XD, I know how annoying I can be, ha ha. Criticism is welcomed too, so don't be afraid to tell. Anyways, here's one last reply to:

thPeekaBoo- sorry I didn't make it in time to reply before parent control came up, XD. And yay, you came back, ha ha. Thanks for reviewing, and yes, D18 is here!!! Woot!

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx- That's okay… I have finals in two weeks, NOOO! T_T. Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it ^^ And I have to say, bad luck sucks -_-; ha ha

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Reborn!, it solely belongs to Akira Amano… And Ryohei's statement I will say may not be true, it was just in my head that time, XD.

**Warnings: **Not much in this one, just suspense and shounen-ai mainly

"Oh Tsuna, you're awake," Queen Kyoko cried happily.

The king groaned and rubbed his aching head.

"Ow, where am I?" he asked meekly.

"You're in the infirmary, Tsuna," said Kyoko, "I can't believe you would actually have a boxing showdown! You're lucky you hired that new knight. He was hurt, but he helped me carry you guys up here."

Tsuna did hear what Kyoko said, but was not consciously there, and ended up muttering, "Where are the kids?"

"At school."

"That's good," Tsuna murmured, ready to fall back into peaceful slumber… Until he remembered that Mukuro was back and shot up, regaining full recovery of his senses.

"That's not good! They can't be going to school! We have to pick them up now!"

"Tsuna, what's gotten into you?"

"Ugh, well…"

"Sawada wanted to try out an idea he heard from me," Ryohei butted in, he was in the stretcher next to Tsuna's, "Supposedly, there were some test results that have proven children who are home schooled exceed higher than children who are taught in public schools to the extreme!"

_A very rare good excuse coming from Ryohei!_ Tsuna exclaimed mentally.

"Really?" Kyoko was curious. "Then I guess it's okay, as long as Kyoya will accept it."

_Oh right, _Tsuna thought, _Hibari-san loves his school… that's not going to be easy._

"Since you're okay with that, I'll just go…" Tsuna flinched when his back throbbed from the movement. Kyoko shook her head.

"Maybe you should try it tomorrow," stated Kyoko, "when you get better."

"No, tomorrow isn't good! I can't leave them there!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"That's alright King Tsuna," Dino came in, "Romario and I can pick those two up."

Tsuna lay back down on his bed in relief. "Thanks Dino."

"Oh right! You're Kyoya's new guardian!" then Kyoko added, "Before you go though, the principal called a while ago. I didn't answer because I thought my husband wanted to hear it first."

Tsuna had a feeling that he did not want to hear what the principal had to say. He saw Dino take the phone and look at him. "Do you know the number?"

"Oh, I wrote it down," said Kyoko, bringing the piece of paper to Dino. Dino glanced at it, then turned the dial a couple of times (it was those old telephones). Afterwards, he waited for the signal to connect.

"Hello…No, I'm Kyoya's guardian…Yeah… Ugh-huh… He did what?!" Tsuna gasped at Dino's reaction.

"What did he do?!" Dino had created the Domino Effect, which he mentally hit himself for causing.

"Heh, don't worry, King Tsuna," Dino tried to say calmly, "I'll deal with Kyoya myself. Romario will pick up Chrome."

About to say yes, Tsuna remembered Dino's sudden clumsy persona after his men left.

"Um, I think Romario should stay with you," said Tsuna, "and I'll have Yamamoto and Gokudera take Chrome."

Why the sudden change of mind, Dino did not know, but he nodded and agreed.

"Romario," he commanded, "let's go."

Romario, outside of the infirmary, followed Dino out. _I didn't know Tsuna hired two knights_, Kyoko thought curiously.

"I guess I should leave too," she said, then walked away, leaving the two wounded men with some twelve or so unconscious knights alone.

"That was a good excuse, Ryohei," Tsuna whispered to his brother-in-law.

Ryohei whispered back, "Actually, there was an announcement about it in the League."

"It's true then?!"

---

"I can't believe what I just heard, Sawada Kyoya," the principal said. The two were in his office, and the principal kept pacing around in his frustration.

"One of my top students, pulling an antic like this?! And to top it all off, fifteen students and our martial arts instructor are witnesses to the fight! This school may be in jeopardy for your actions! You could even be arrested! Are you listening, Sawada?"

Hibari was looking down at the cat on his lap, stroking its fur gently as it purred in appreciation. The principal groaned.

"All for a stupid cat."

Hibari glared at the man.

"Sorry I'm late."

They both glanced at the newcomer. Hibari's eyes darkened.

"What are you doing here, Cavallone?"

"Your father couldn't come, so I took his place."

"Ah, so you're his guardian?" said the principal.

"Yes," Dino paused to look at Hibari, "Kyoya, why don't you let us adults discuss privately while you stay outside?"

Hibari did not like anything in that statement at all. "I am not a child! And do not call me by my given name!"

"Alright, alright," said Dino, pushing Hibari out the door, "we'll talk about your problems with me later."

The door slammed shut in front of Hibari's face. The prince glared at the door (as if that was going to do anything), then sat on the bench right next to it. He glanced at the cat again. Taking out a handkerchief, he quickly made his way to the water fountain. He soaked the cloth, then sat back on the bench as he carefully dabbed at the cat's eye, wiping off the glue residue. When he could see the pupil clearly, he noticed that the eye did not blink while the other did. He waved his hand over its face. The eye stayed wide open. Hibari sighed. The damage had been done.

Making it lay on its back; Hibari ripped a piece of his sleeve and wrapped it tightly around the cat's broken paw. It hissed at the pain. The prince petted it, soothing the cat's tension. He heard the door creak open. Dino walked out silently. Hibari found it easier to stare at his feet than at Dino.

"I'm expelled, aren't I?" Hibari hated to admit.

"Yeah."

Silence. Dino gazed at the cat. His hand reached out to pet it. "Hey little guy."

The cat hissed and scratched Dino's hand. _Ouch_, Dino thought painfully.

"He doesn't like you," Hibari stated.

"I could see that," Dino replied.

Silence resumed.

"…Hey Kyoya."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Come on, I just…"

"Wait," Hibari pointed his finger at Dino. Keeping the hand up, he scooted and measured a good distance away from any accidental fall. "Go on."

Dino chuckled a little, and subsided back to his serious demeanor. "Mind telling me what happened back there?"

"I won't talk about it to someone I barely know," said Hibari, "Besides, you wouldn't understand."

"Actually, Kyoya (_He's still saying my name_, Hibari thought), I think we have a lot in common."

Hibari frowned. "I hardly believe that."

"But it's true. You see, when I was your age, I happened to be wild myself."

"I would love to hear your version of _wild_," Hibari commented.

"I know you're still upset about what's happened," Dino argued, "but it's not going to help if you don't at least tell someone."

"Stop patronizing me," the prince growled, "I already have parents who lecture me and that's enough."

Dino smiled sadly and sat down on the bench, a couple feet away from Hibari since the cat was still hissing at him.

"You know, Kyoya," Dino began, "you're one lucky guy to have a family who's there for you. I wished I could have had something like that."

Hibari crossed his arms. "Why is that?"

"Well, unlike you, I didn't get to experience the opportunity of a lifetime. While you and many other kids get to see their parents till your old, at eight, I watched my parents' murder in our house."

Hibari's looked up at Dino, his interest peaked.

"What happened," the prince asked. Dino complied.

"They worked as crime investigators, and apparently, one case took them down. The murderer they were looking for found out their location, and figured he'd seize the advantage to eliminate them," Dino sighed, "My parents underestimated him and they never saw it coming. After the man left, it scared me seeing them stare right through me covered in all that… blood. The scene stuck to my head like glue, and I was put into shock."

What was he doing?

"After countless psychological therapy, the doctors believed it were best if I lived with a foster family," he continued, "They were hoping a new start would make those memories fade away in time. The family that was chosen provided for me all the necessities I needed to live then left me alone. They thought that if they intruded, I would snap. What they never thought was that a little eight year old boy would need someone to help him cope with the violent deaths he had faced."

For some reason, his lips kept moving, telling things he was supposed to forget long ago. Why was he doing this?

"Only remembering the bad side of a short story isn't a great thing, let me tell you. Sometimes I just wanted to shoot myself to fill the empty void. Instead, I blamed everyone for my pain. It wasn't the best choice, but what else was a boy supposed to think?"

His job personally stated not to get close to his clients, so it wasn't the job that influenced him. Why then?

"As the years went by, you could say I became the bully of the neighborhood. I terrorized everybody and built a gang of delinquents, much like how I heard your prefects were, but worse. We had people crawling back into their houses with our games of matches: seeing which side of the head would lose the most hair from burning; kick and run; and vandalizing. Our gang did all this, but in truth, we were a bunch of idiots pretending there was no such thing as the real world. We were free to do whatever we wanted."

He did not have the answer, but he knew that he wanted to help this boy, no matter the consequences that were involved.

"There was one day I'll never forget. One boy from the neighborhood around fourteen stood up to us. He wasn't that big or tall, but just an ordinary person wearing glasses. He bravely told us how he would not tolerate our actions and that he was doing this for his friends and family. We laughed and told him to go away. His response was what made me attack. He said, 'You're parents must despise you all for living like assholes. No wonder why you don't have a family.'

There's a thing in everyone that I like to call a trigger. That trigger in me pulled and I beat him up relentlessly. I was going to kill him with the knife in my pocket."

"Why didn't you?" Hibari finally spoke, his voice quiet.

A vivid image of Reborn came into Dino's mind. "Someone stopped me."

"He made me realize how much of a criminal I've become," the assassin explained, "Because of him, I was able to change my route and look at how I'm doing now."

"Being a clumsy fool, working as a knight, acting annoyingly nice," Hibari listed, "it all adds up to a huge turnabout from where you come from."

"I guess you could say that," Dino mused, "Now will you tell me?"

The prince stared at Dino, before he gave in and sighed.

"I really had no clue what happened there," said Hibari, "I heard what they called the cat, and saw their twisted little game… I remember being mad, but between then and until I saw them unconscious, nothing.

This did happen before, and Chrome stopped me, but I hurt her in turn… like what happened to Kusakabe."

Dino was glad Hibari was beginning to entrust information about himself to him.

"I won't force you to tell me what happened that time. For right now, like I said, there's a trigger in everyone, pulled by a force called memory or emotions. You probably had a memory that knew this little guy's story. And I think you did what you could, you defended it, but you couldn't get rid of the rage till someone paid for their actions. I'm not saying what you did was right, but you didn't mean any harm, and it's a good thing that you realized that."

Hibari sat there quietly, and gazed back at the black cat. Dino glanced at the watch on Hibari's wrist and gaped.

"Oh boy, that's late!" Dino exclaimed, "I left Romario in the hallway, we better go."

"Who?" Hibari asked, having not seen Romario yet.

"He's your new chauffeur and a good old friend of mine," said Dino, glad he had an occupation in mind.

"So you already have a buddy for your new job," Hibari commented, "just what this kingdom needs: more herbivores."

"Hey, I wouldn't be able to survive this job without Romario being there for me," said Dino, not knowing how close to the truth it was, "It's nice to have one friend accompany you, don't you think?"

Hibari did not reply. His onyx eyes gleamed as they stared at Dino.

"Could you help me up?" he asked.

"Ugh, sure," said Dino, puzzled as the request was unexpected.

He found it odd that Hibari needed help when he could very well get up on his own. But nonetheless, he lent a hand and brought the prince up. Releasing his hand afterwards, Dino was surprised when the hand around his clung tighter.

"Kyoya?"

"Let's go," said Hibari, preventing Dino from questioning his motives.

The black cat, in Hibari's one-handed loose grip, climbed over the prince's shoulder, and carefully crept down the other arm as the two men walked. As it reached its destination, the cat bit Dino's hand.

"Ow," cried Dino, letting go of Hibari's hand swiftly, "does this guy have something against me?"

"Well," said Hibari, observing Dino, "you do look like a dog with that furry hood."

"D-dog?" Dino stammered. Hibari smirked.

"You're really strange for a knight, I just met you and already you told me your past."

"Ha ha, I didn't expect it myself. But I guess I wanted to help."

Hibari went on, ignoring Dino's comment. "You also dress casually, have messy hair, an irritatingly in-everyone's-case behavior, and the good-boy façade is very idiotic."

"I think you've already said all that," Dino sighed and muttered, "except with less details."

"I know," Hibari stated, "just wanted to confirm it."

The assassin chuckled at that. Very negative, but humorous at the same time. He hadn't had a good laugh in a while until he met the Sawadas.

Hibari waited a moment for Dino to calm down before asking the question that was on his mind.

"Dino, how does it feel like living without parents?" The assassin sighed.

"Lonely," he answered. He saw the solemn mood the reply put Hibari in.

"But I promise you that you will never have to feel that way while I'm here." Dino ruffled Hibari's hair, but swiftly drew back when the black cat reached to scratch his hand.

For some reason, Hibari felt oddly comforted by Dino's words, as if he could trust him.

"Hicat, come here," he ordered. The cat slowly crawled down towards the prince's arms with three legs, leaving the broken one out.

"Hicat?" Dino asked. Hibari did not answer and continued to walk, smirking as he saw Dino ponder on that name.

The prince never thought of this on his first meeting with anyone, but he was glad he met Dino.

---

**Author's Note:** Twas sappy, I know, I read it a bunch of times to try and get rid of all that… but then I kept on adding… and made it even sappier than what was originally written, XD. So I had to stop editing. Sorry for all that writing, XD. Hope you all enjoyed anyways, ha ha


	8. A Random Short

**Warnings: **not much here, except maybe much randomness (pet fight, food poisoning, etc.), shounen-ai, and darn perverted Shamal! (Though I love him anyways, ha ha)

**Author's Note: **I'd love to thank God for having my mother stop using parental control on my user. I feel so happy that I can continue to write. Well, not much to say, except this chapter was kind of just an add-on thing. The plot will somewhat continue on the next chapter. I really appreciate the reviews I get from all you readers, they're very uplifting in my hectic life and help me finish the story ^^ Please continue reviewing! And hopefully you got the replies I sent ^^ So, without further ado, this chapter shall commence!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Reborn, that belongs solely to Akira Amano. And I do not own the Namimori anthem... but I do own Hicat somewhat, XD, but he belongs to Hibari, ha ha

**Ch. 8 A Random Short **

"Isn't that your lunch, Kyoya?" Dino asked as the two walked along the halls of Namimori.

"Yes," said Hibari, looking at the bento held in his hand, "but I won't eat it. My cook poisoned it."

"What," Dino exclaimed, "why would she do that?!"

"She hates me," Hibari stated. Dino chuckled.

"You're lying," he muttered.

"I don't bluff," Hibari confirmed. Dino was still being skeptical about it.

"How can that be when she prepares food for your family?"

"She hates me, not my family," said Hibari.

"Is that so," Dino questioned jokingly, still disbelieving, "Maybe I should test it then, since I'm immune to most poisons."

Hibari raised an eyebrow. Dino realized his mistake. That was a job of an assassin, not a knight. He quickly came up with an excuse.

"I was taught to resist the poison I consume in foods," he stated, "As a knight you're supposed to test all sorts of poisons in order to protect… well, you guys."

"That's a new thing," Hibari said, then shrugged, "You can try it then."

He gave the bento to Dino, and watched as the Dino took a piece of chicken and began eating it. It tasted fine to Dino, in fact it was delicious!

"See," said Dino, "there's no…"

A weird squishy noise came from the assassin's stomach. The two stared at it. The noise began to rise higher and higher, louder and louder, till it reached up to Dino's throat. Dino covered his mouth.

"Shit," he swore under his breath, "where's the bathroom here?"

"Down the hallway."

"Thank you." And Dino ran with the speed of a cheetah as he raced through the school.

Hibari thought that maybe he should have told Dino that Bianchi used to be a thief known as the Poisonous Scorpion who killed the guards with her cooking as an escape… but what would be the fun in that?

---

Romario, awaiting his boss's return, saw Dino running and waved to him. A gust of wind attacked his face from the direction Dino ran through, and he looked around puzzlingly as his boss was nowhere in sight.

"So you're the herbivore Cavallone was talking about," said Hibari, walking up to Romario.

"And you must be Prince Kyoya," Romario said politely, watching as Hibari's eyes narrowed at the sound of his name, "Um, what happened to the b-… Dino?"

"He ate something he wasn't supposed to." Hibari said this as if he had no care in the world. He did warn the assassin anyways.

Romario sighed, and saw Hicat on Hibari's shoulder. He stroked its head, and Hicat purred, nuzzling its head against Romario's hand.

"Nice cat," he commented. Hibari smirked.

---

Chrome crossed her arms, pushing away the uneasy feeling in her guts. It was not just the rough road the carriage had to pass through that caused her queasiness, but being with the two men she felt very uncomfortable with. Gokudera and Yamamoto were nice guys, but it just made her feel weird when they were together. She knew about their relationship, and happened to not like being around gays that much. This made her wish for Ken and Chikusa to come back… wherever they were. They may be useless as guardians, but they were better company.

Yamamoto broke the silence with a question.

"So, how did school go?"

Yamamoto felt the great tangible air of silence return heavily.

"Eheh," he said awkwardly. Chrome rolled her eyes and looked out the window.

"Don't even try to make her talk," Gokudera whispered, "She won't say a thing if she doesn't like you."

"Okay," Yamamoto whispered back, "Wait, she doesn't like me?"

"Idiot," Gokudera muttered. A few seconds of silence.

"Hey," said Yamamoto, "while she's not looking… Would you give me a kiss?"

"What?!" Gokudera cried aloud. Chrome puked, begging for some divine person out there to give her sympathy.

---

"Romario, drive slowly, please!"

"Sorry boss."

The horses slowed to a nice trot, and Dino sighed in relief as he relaxed in his seat, grasping his aching stomach. He had never noticed the bumps and jagged dirt road that the wheels of the carriage rolled across, but with his stomach ache, he wanted to so badly spring out and puke whatever nasty substance was in that poisonous food. Hibari slumbered peacefully with his newfound companion, Hicat, resting on his lap, lying on its back. Dino would have laughed at the amusing positions they were in, as they both had their mouths opened with their heads falling backwards (Hicat looked like he was actually dead), but was more preoccupied with his problem. He pitied the motion sick people.

"_Midori tanabiku namimori no  
dainaku shounaku nami ga ii_

_itsumo kawaranu  
sukoyaka kenage  
aa-  
tomo ni utaou  
namimorichuu!"_

_Who's singing_, Dino wondered. Hibari yawned and looked out the window.

"Hmm," Hibari said, groggily opening his eyes, "it's Hibird."

_Does he like adding Hi- as a prefix to animal names? _More questions for Dino to ponder about.

Hibird flew inside the carriage to greet Hibari, chanting, "Hibari's back! Hibari's back!"

Perching on the prince's shoulder, the bird noticed Hicat sleeping on Hibari's lap. An evil gleam shined in Hibird's eyes.

The cat stretched and yawned as the carriage stopped. Opening its eyes, Hicat was confused by the vision of yellow blocking its sight.

"What are you doing Hibird?" Hibari asked suspiciously.

The yellow bird stared at Hicat, who scooted back a bit in fear. From the sudden movement, Hibird flapped his wings as it flew and clawed at the black cat's back. Hicat hissed and jumped out of the carriage, with Hibird following its tail… literally.

Hibari hurriedly opened the door to stop the two animals. Dino groaned.

"Wait Kyoya…" Getting up, he ended up falling back down, "Ah… never mind."

---

The prince was met with the scene of Hicat, blocking its head, and Hibird, attacking Hicat with its small talons. Hibari grabbed the bird, cupping it in his hands.

"Hibird… be nice." He commanded lightly.

Hibird tilted his head innocently. Hibari, thinking it was safe, let go of Hibird, only to see it peck Hicat's back once again. The cat whimpered. Hibari caught the bird once more, this time covering it whole with both hands.

"You're going to your cage," Hibari scolded through the little airspace he gave. Hicat ran behind Hibari's calf and hissed at the hidden bird.

"So," said Dino, limping forward, "he's afraid of little birds, but he's okay with biting and scratching big guys like me?"

Hibari shrugged. "You're too wimpy to scare a cat."

"That's nice to know," Dino groaned, "that a bird is scarier than me."

Hibari ignored Dino's comment and looked back inside the carriage.

"Cavallone, some of my bags are still there, go get them."

"…"

Was being close to the prince really worth it?

---

Chrome walked around in the castle; ridding her mind of the carriage incident with portraits and plants she passed by. Somebody in white was coming close by.

"Princess Chrome!" the man called.

She wanted to crawl back into a corner as she realized who it was. Bad karma seemed to be on her side as Doctor Shamal stood next to her.

"Hey there, Princess," said Shamal, "I see you have some injuries. Mind if I treat them?"

"I-I'm okay," Chrome stuttered.

"Ah, it's alright, Princess. I just…"

He was kicked at the back and landed onto the floor.

"Don't touch my sister, pervert," said Hibari, "Go check on the maids as your job implies you to do."

"Geez, give the old man a break," Shamal complained, but left nonetheless.

"Now he's going to bother the maids," Chrome whined, yet rejoiced on the inside.

"Better them than you," Hibari replied. There was heavy thumping coming up the stairs. Hibari frowned.

"Cavallone, hurry up. My baggage isn't heavy."

Dino finally reached the top, carrying a suitcase in one hand and clutching his stomach with the other. Limping to the two siblings, he dropped the luggage and leaned against the wall. He slid down, groaning.

"Never will I ever make a woman like that hate me," he murmured, "I don't want to die from food poisoning."

Chrome gazed at the assassin cautiously. "What's he doing here?"

"He picked me up," Hibari stated simply, then he added, "Cavallone, where's Hicat?"

"With Romario," Dino murmured.

Romario came up the stairs with Hicat perched happily on his shoulder, purring each time Romario petted it.

"He likes you," Hibari said, stating the obvious.

"I've noticed," said Romario with a smile.

"But he hates Cavallone there." Hibari indicated the said person with his index finger. Hicat saw Dino and hissed. _Seriously, _Dino thought, _what did I do?_

Chrome, with much enthusiasm, ran up to Romario to pick up Hicat.

"Aww, hi Hikitty," said Chrome, hugging it gently.

Hibari's eye twitched. "It's Hicat."

"But Hikitty is cuter," the black cat purred, "Besides, he likes it."

"No," Hibari said with a high command of indifference, "I found him, which means I own him. And the owner says his name will be Hicat." The prince was determined to prevent the cat from getting a silly name.

"Hikitty's better."

"It's stupidly girly."

"You two just arrived and you're already fighting." Queen Kyoko walked in, smiling at her children's foolishness. She noticed Dino's condition and became concerned.

"Ah, are you alright," Kyoko asked, "Should I get someone to bring you to the infirmary?"

The assassin pushed his weight up against the wall.

"Nah, its okay, Queen Kyoko," he said, "I'll make it there myself."

"Mother," said Chrome, childishly excited, "can we keep the kitty Little Brother found?"

"Of course, if you take responsibility and… EEP!"

Dino had made the mistake in getting up as Kyoko jumped up and clung to him in a tight chokehold. Surprised by the weight, he held her bridal style with shaky legs. _Stomach, stomach_, he mentally chanted painfully.

"A black cat!" Kyoko screamed, shutting her eyes tightly, "Get rid of it! We can't have bad luck in this family!"

Upon hearing this, the two siblings gazed at their mother, then at each other. They smirked.

"Mother," said Chrome. Kyoko took a peek. Chrome held the cat over Kyoko's face.

"Eep!" Chrome brought the cat back to her chest, and then repeated the process again.

"Chrome, stop it!" Kyoko began to wriggle around in fear, and Dino tried his best not to throw up on the queen. Kyoko shut her eyes tightly once more.

"I will not open my eyes until I see that thing is gone!"

"Mother."

Kyoko opened her eyes a squint, and Hibari shoved (not literally) the cat to her face.

"Mother," Hibari ordered, "look at its face."

---

"Hey Hayato," asked Yamamoto.

"What is it now," Gokudera muttered, smoking outside of the castle (Tsuna did not want him to influence the kids to smoke).

"How did Hibari-san find out about us?" Gokudera almost choked on his cigarette.

"I need to get some water," he said hurriedly, using the excuse to escape. He was not able to as one big hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back.

"What are you trying to hide, Hayato?" he asked. Gokudera bit his bottom lip.

"Alright, I'll tell you," said Gokudera, "but this will be the last secret I'll ever mention. I hate remembering this one. It's probably the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me."

"What happened," Yamamoto was now curious. Gokudera sighed, wondering how he put up with this guy and why he spoiled him so.

"I'm only telling this once," he said, "So you better be listening, idiot. Here's how it went…"

~~~Flashback~~~

"What the hell are you doing idiot?" Gokudera asked. Yamamoto had led them into an alleyway of the Great Hall, hidden slightly in the shadows. Making Gokudera lean against the wall, Yamamoto smiled.

"Nobody comes here," he stated, "Besides, it's eleven o'clock at night. They'll never see us."

Gokudera was about to protest, but Yamamoto shut him quickly with a kiss. Gokudera sighed and kissed back reluctantly. As Yamamoto caressed his face, Gokudera caught a tuft of black hair from the corner of his eyes. Though the scene was dark, he was sure he saw something. Looking more clearly in that direction, his eyes widened as he saw the little prince, in a black T-shirt and plaid boxers, staring at them with a shocked expression. The stuffed animal in his hands was squeezed tightly.

_Dammit_, Gokudera thought. He tried to threaten the kid to go away with a failed attempt of a kick. Hibari stared.

Gokudera then tried to make a 'shoo-shoo' motion with his hand. Hibari just stared.

Unexpectedly and at the wrong time, Yamamoto bit Gokudera's lip, making him moan and part his lips. When Yamamoto's tongue entered, Gokudera was in a moment of ecstasy, closing his eyes to savor it, responding to the kiss. This moment ended shortly as he opened his eyes quickly, remembering Hibari was still there. He looked down to his left.

Hibari's mouth was formed to the shape of a small 'o'. _Would you stop staring_, Gokudera thought anxiously, blushing in embarrassment. His sudden nervousness caused him to stop reacting towards the kiss.

"What's the matter, Hayato," Yamamoto asked, continuing to pester Gokudera with kisses, "are you not in the mood?"

_For crying out loud, idiot,_ Gokudera wanted to say, _there's a kid staring at us!_ Sadly, his mouth was more than a little preoccupied to say anything. He looked back at Hibari once again, and saw him slowly back away, still staring in shock. The prince finally disappeared, and Gokudera growled and pushed Yamamoto off.

"You idiot!" He stomped away. Yamamoto watched him, clueless as to what happened.

"What did I do?"

---

Gokudera followed Hibari, hoping he wouldn't go to his parents. Instead, Hibari knocked the door of Reborn's office. Reborn opened it and motioned for Hibari to come in. As the door closed, Gokudera hid under the window of the office, listening in on their conversation.

"Baby," Hibari asked, "why were Gokudera and Yamamoto eating each other's faces?"

Gokudera coughed at that. Reborn looked at the little prince with an all-knowing smile. "That's what you call being gay."

Hibari gave a confused expression. "Being gay?"

Reborn saw Gokudera from outside his office, and his smile became more evil.

"I'll tell you what it means."

The knight saw Reborn reach for a book, and gaped at the title. Reborn was going to tell a ten year old _that_?! He closed his ears and ran away; preventing himself from hearing any strange things Reborn might say. Little did he know that Reborn just made Hibari look it up in a dictionary and gave him a glass of warm milk so the child could sleep soundly.

~~~End of Flashback~~~

"And you didn't tell me he was there?!" Yamamoto stood there flabbergasted. Gokudera frowned.

"Did you want to tell the bratty prince what we were up to?" he asked. Yamamoto laughed nervously.

"I see your point," he replied.

---

"Tsuna?" Kyoko asked as she peeked through the door of their bedroom.

Tsuna was reading some files on his desk, clad in reading glasses and blue pajamas.

"You can come in Kyoko," he responded. Kyoko smiled and walked in.

"Tsuna, we have a new member of the family!"

"Huh?" _Don't tell me she's pregnant_, Tsuna thought timidly, not ready for a newborn.

"Here he is!" A black cat jumped onto the desk, causing all the papers to fly around.

"A black cat!" Tsuna fell from his chair.

Picking the cat up, the queen snuggled its cheek with hers. "Isn't he so cute?"

Tsuna smiled nervously. "Eheh, w-whatever you say."

And that was how the cat, now dubbed Hicat (through much debate), became part of the Sawada Family.

---

**Random Note: **Remember people, a jealous Hibird is an evil Hibird. And poor Hibari, his youth was really corrupted, XD. (I also really didn't want to add those flashback signs, but I didn't want anybody to get confused, XD)


End file.
